99! 


larfof; 


W/SR  *' 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


^^m 

'*s^ 


• 


THE  BOYS'  AND  GIRLS'  LIBRARY 
OF  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY. 

f. — Robert  Fulton  and  Steam  Navigation.  By  THOS  W. 
KNOX,  editor  of  "  The  Travels  of  Marco  Polo,v 
author  of  "Boy  Travellers  in  the  East,"  etc.,  etc. 
Large  I2mo  profusely  illustrated $i  75 

"  Its  facts  are  so  valuable,  its  illustrations  so  significant,  and  its 
educational  influence  so  direct  and  powerful,  that  the  book  cannot  fail 
to  prove  exceptionally  popular  and  useful,  while  it  is  written  in  a  bright 
and  thoroughly  readable  style." — Congregationalist. 

"  The  style  is  so  easy  and  agreeable  as  to  commend  the  book 
especially  to  young  readers,  but  readers  of  any  age  will  find  it  enjoy- 
able.— Boston  "Journal. 

II. — The  Life  of  George  Washington.  Studied  anew  by 
EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE,  author  of  "  Man  without  a 
Country,"  "  Ten  Times  One  is  Ten,"  etc.,  etc.  Large 
I2mo.  Fully  illustrated. 

"  I  have  been  satisfied  for  some  years  that  the  time  had  come  for 
a  new  view  of  the  life  and  character  of  George  Washington,  a  view  to  be 
taken  alter  a  careful  study  of  his  own  memoranda  prepared  for  the  history 
of  his  own  life.  As  the  readers  of  this  book  will  learn,  Washington  left, 
arranged  in  careful  order,  perhaps  more  materials  for  his  biography  than 
any  man  of  his  century  ;  but  a  certain  habit  of  deifying  him  has  thus  far 
prevented  writers  of  his  life  from  approaching  the  study  of  the  man  in  the 
way  in  which  writers  would  address  themselves  to  most  biographical  sub- 
jects. ...  It  has  been  my  aim,  using  in  my  narrative  chiefly  the  dia- 
ries and  letters  of  the  man  himself,  to  present  to  the  new  generation  of 
Americans  the  human  Washington  in  such  a  way  that  they  may  have 
some  conception  of  the  man  and  of  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages 
with  which  he  worked  through  his  great  career." — Extract  from  A  uthor's 
Preface. 

III. — Abraham  Lincoln.  By  NOAH  BROOKS.  Large  i2mo 
fully  illustrated.  (In  Press.) 

A  clearly  written  story,  giving  a  graphic  presentation  of  the  chief 
events  in  the  life  of  Lincoln  ("  the  typical  American  of  his  century  "),  in  his 
dramatic  career  from  the  log-cabin  to  the  White  House,  together  with  a 
clear  and  comprehensive  statement  of  the  nature  of  his  services  to  the 
country  during  the  great  struggle  for  national  existence. 

Mr.  Brooks  was  for  years  a  close  associate  and  trusted  friend  of 
Lincoln,  and  he  writes  with  full  personal  knowledge  of  the  man  and  his 
work. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


A    BIOGRAPHY    FOR    YOUNG     PEOPLE 


NOAH    BROOKS 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  BOY  EMIGRANTS,"  "THE  FAIRPORT  NINE,"  "OUR  BASE-BALL  CLUB,' 

ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S    SONS 

<£(K  HjmrherbocKcr  prrss 
1888 


COPYRIGHT   BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Press  of 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
New    York 


TO    THE   MEMORY    OF 
"TAD" 


PREFACE. 


IN  writing  this  brief  biography,  I  have  been  moved  by 
a  desire  to  give  to  the  generation  of  young  people  who 
will  never  know  aught  of  Abraham  Lincoln  but  what  is 
traditional,  a  life-like  picture  of  the  man  as  many  men 
knew  him.  To  do  this,  it  has  been  necessary  to  draw 
material  from  various  sources,  to  paint  in  a  background 
of  the  history 'of  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  and  to  place 
the  illustrious  subject  in  his  true  relation,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, to  the  events  in  which  he  was  so  large  a  participant. 
So  far  as  I  have  been  able,  I  have  subordinated  the  events 
to  the  man. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  work,  I  have  been  greatly 
helped  by  many  authors ;  and  I  have  been  especially  in- 
debted to  the  writings  of  Colonel  Ward  H.  Lamon,  the 
Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,  John  G. 
Nicolay,  and  Colonel  John  Hay.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
to  know  Lincoln  with  some  degree  of  intimacy,  our 
acquaintance  beginning  with  the  Fremont  campaign  of 
1856,  when  I  was  a  resident  of.  Illinois,  and  continuing 
through  the  Lincoln-Douglas  canvass,  two  years  later. 
That  relation  became  more  intimate  and  confidential 


VI 


P  KEF  ACE. 


when,  in  1862,  I  met  Lincoln  in  Washington  and  saw  him 
almost  daily  until  his  tragical  death.  This  preliminary 
egotism  may  be  pardoned  by  way  of  explanation  of  the 
fact  that  many  things  relating  to  his  early  life,  herein  set 
down,  were  derived  from  his  own  lips,  often  during  hours 
of  secluded  companionship.  If  this  little  book  shall  give 
new  and  inspiring  views  of  Lincoln  to  the  young  people 
of  the  present  day,  I  shall  be  grateful  that  I  have  been 
permitted  to  write  it. 

NOAH  BROOKS. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   LINCOLN    ANCESTRY. 

I 

Condition  of  the  People  at  the  End  of  the  War  for  Independence — 
Migrations  of  the  Earlier  Lincolns — A  Tragedy  in  the  Wilderness 
Abraham  Lincoln's  Parents  in  Kentucky — Birth  of  the  Future  Presi- 
dent— The  Old  Kentucky  Home — Another  Migration — A  Great 
Disaster  in  Indiana 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   BOYHOOD   OF   LINCOLN. 

The  Lincoln  Home  in  Indiana — Hard  Times — The  Boy  of  the  Back- 
woods— Log-Cabin  Building — Abraham  Lincoln's  First  Letter — 
The  Funeral  in  the  Wilderness — The  Boy's  First  Book  .  .12 

CHAPTER  III. 

YOUNG   MANHOOD. 

Thomas  Lincoln's  Second  Marriage — Improvements  in  the  Backwoods 
Home — More  Books  for  the  Boy — His  Horizon  Enlarges — He 
Learns  to  be  Thorough — Down  the  Mississippi — A  Glimpse  of 
Slavery — Coming  out  of  the  Wilderness 29 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   LINCOLNS   IN   ILLINOIS. 

The  Land  of  Full-Grown  Men — Lincoln  Attains  His  Majority — Strik- 
ing out  for  Himself — Another  River  Voyage — An  Odd  Introduc- 
tion to  New  Salem — Some  Rough-and-Tumble  Discipline — The 
Backwoodsman  Conquers  Friends — He  Vanquishes  English 
Grammar -49 


viii  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

A   PLUNGE   INTO    POLITICS. 

PACE 
Young  Lincoln's  Growing  Passion  for  Knowledge — Candidate  for  the 

State  Legislature — Captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  War — A  Gathering 
of  Men  Since  Famous — Hardships  of  the  Volunteer  Soldiers — 
Stump-Speaking  and  Defeat — Lincoln  as  a  Country  Merchant — 
Lawyer  and  Surveyor  .........  63 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   YOUNG   POLITICIAN. 

Elected  to  the  Legislature — Stump  Speaker  and  Political  Debater — 
Encounters  on  the  Stump) — The  Lincoln-Stone  Protest  against 
Slavery — "The  Long  Nine',' — Removal  of  the  State  Capital  to 
Springfield — Compliments  to  the  Sangamon  Chief — Lincoln  a 
Full-Fledged  Lawyer — Riding  the  Illinois  Circuit — Distinguished 
Associates  at  the  Bar — Lincoln  as  a  Harrison  Man  .  .  .81 

CHAPTER  VII. 

WINNING   HIS    WAY. 

His  First  Love  Affair — A  Disappointment — Dark  Days — The  Lincoln- 
Shields  "  Duel  " — Good  Advice  on  the  Subject  of  Quarrelling — 
Lincoln  and  Van  Buren — A  Roadside  Symposium — Congressional 
Expectations 99 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    RISING    POLITICIAN. 

Lincoln's  Admiration  of  Henry  Clay — An  Irresponsive  Idol — Slavery 
and  the  Tariff — Lincoln  Elected  to  Congress — The  Mexican  War 
A  Queer  Nickname — Rise  of  the  Free-Soil  Party — Election  of 
Gen.  Taylor — Return  to  Springfield — The  Boys  of  Lincoln — A 
Shiftless  Relative in 

CHAPTER  IX. 

LINCOLN   THE   LAWYER. 

An  Honest  Advocate  and  Counsellor — The  Snow  Boys  and  Old  Man 
Case — Famous  Lawsuits  about  Negroes — Jack  Armstrong's  Son 
on  Trial  for  Murder — Lincoln's  Vindication  of  His  Old  Friend 
— How  the  Attorney  Looked  and  Spoke  .....  133 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER    X. 

A   GREAT   AWAKENING. 

PAGE 

Stupor  before  Excitement — A  Dead  Sea  of  Politics — Repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise' — The  Migration  to  Kansas — Lincoln  and 
Douglas  Meet  Again — A  Memorable  Debate — Lincoln  Withdraws 
from  the  Canvass — Lyman  Trumbull  Elected  to  the  Senate  .  .  143 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   KANSAS   STRUGGLE. 

Freedom  and  Slavery  Wrestle  with  Each  Other — "  Bleeding  Kansas" 
— The  Troubles  of  Slave-Owners — The  Irrepressible  Conflict — 
Lincoln's  Slowness  and  Reticence  ......  157 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   COMING  MAN. 

Birth  of  the  Republican  Party — Nomination  of  Fremont — The  Party 
Lines  Drawn — A  Virulent  Campaign — Election  of  James  Buchanan 
— Kansas  Reluctant  to  Consent  to  Slavery  .....  166 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

LINCOLN   AND   DOUGLAS. 

The  Famous  Contest  for  the  Senatorship — A  Battle  of  Giants — Douglas 
and  Lincoln  Compared — Two  Self-Made  Men — Lincoln's  Auto- 
biography— A  Series  of  Famous  Debates — The  Country  Intent  on 
the  Struggle — A  Great  Lesson  in  American  Politics  .  .  .174 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

AFTER   A   GREAT   STRUGGLE. 

Condition  of  the  Two  Contestants — The  Crocodile  and  the  Negro — 
Douglas  in  the  South — Lincoln  Nominated  by  Illinois  Republicans 
— The  Rail-Splitting  Candidate — Some  Pithy  Sayings — Lincoln 
Speaks  in  New  York — The  Man  From  Illinois  ....  192 

CHAPTER  XV. 

ELECTED   TO   THE   PRESIDENCY. 

Rending  of  the  Democratic  Party — The  National  Convention  of  1860 — 
Lincoln  Nominated  at  Chicago — A  Memorable  Scene — Popular 
Enthusiasm — Four  Tickets  in  the  Field — Lincoln's  Great  Triumph,  203 


X  TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

AFTER   THE   ELECTION. 

PAGE 

The  President-Elect  and  the  Office-Seekers — A  Policy  Demanded — 
Treason  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet — Organization  of  the  Rebel  Con- 
federacy— Alarm  in  the  North — The  Star  of  the  West  Fired  On — 
A  Peace  Congress  in  the  Face  of  War  .  .  .  .  .  .217 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

FROM   SPRINGFIELD   TO   WASHINGTON. 

Lincoln's  Farewell  to  His  Fellow-Townsmen — Prayers  for  the  Presi- 
dent-Elect— Rush  of  the  People  to  See  Him — A  Series  of  Remark- 
able Speeches — Why  the  President  would  Wear  a  Beard — Rumors 
of  Assassination — The  Night  Journey  from  Harrisburg  to  the 
Capital 233 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

LINCOLN'S  INAUGURATION. 

A  Notable  Gathering  in  Washington — The  First  Inaugural  Address — 
How  it  was  received  North  and  South — Precautions  against  Plots 
— Formation  of  the  Cabinet — Representative  Men  .  .  .  250 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

PRESIDENT   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

In  the  White  House — Assembling  of  the  Rebel  Congress — Rebel  Emis- 
saries Sent  to  Washington — A  Vigorous  Policy  Clamored  for — The 
First  Gun  at  Sumter — Great  Excitement  throughout  the  Republic 
— A  Nation  in  Arms — Attack  on  the  Sixth  Massachusetts — Notable 
Deaths 265 

CHAPTER  XX. 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  GREAT   STRUGGLE. 

The  Combatants  Face  to  Face — The  First  Battle  of  Bull  Run — The 
Sting  of  Defeat — George  B.  McClellan — Effect  of  the  Great 
Disaster — A  Message  to  Congress — Men  and  Money  Voted — How 
Foreign  Nations  Regarded  the  Struggle — Seizure  and  Release  of 
Mason  and  Slidell 293 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    SLAVERY    QUESTION    ARISES. 

PAGE 

Fremont  s  Troubles  in  Missouri — His  Policy  Disapproved  by  the 
President — Gen.  Hunter's  Proclamation  Revoked — Irritation  in 
the  Border  States — Lincoln  Invites  a  Conference — Arming  the 
Freedmen  Proposed — Lincoln's  Letter  to  Horace  Greeley — The 
Emancipation  Proclamation  Issued  .  .  .  .  .  .311 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

A    DIFFICULT    MILITARY    SITUATION. 

Creation  and  Equipment  of  an  Army — The  Federal  Military  Plan — 
Retirement  of  General  Scott — General  McClellan  in  Full  Com- 
mand— Appearance  of  General  U.  S.  Grant — Fall  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson — Criticism  of  McClellan — Death  of  the  President's 
Son  Willie — Military  Operations  on  the  Peninsula — McClellan's 
Extraordinary  Delays — His  Advice  to  the  President — Halleck 
Made  General-in-Chief — A  Conference  of  Loyal  Governors — The 
Second  Bull  Run  Defeat — Antietam — McClellan  Relieved  of  His 
Command  ...........  335 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   TURNING    OF    THE   TIDE. 

The  Battle  of  Fredericksburg — Rise  of  the  Peace  Party — Factions  in 
Congress — The  Battle  of  Chancellorsville — A  Conscription  Or- 
dered and  Martial  Law  Declared — Colored  Troops  Enlisted — 
Great  Financial  Measures  Afoot — Vallandigham's  Expulsion  and 
Return — Growth  of  the  Anti-War  Sentiment — Fall  of  Vicksburg 
and  Battle  of  Gettysburg — Popular  Rejoicings — The  President's 
Proclamation  of  Thanksgiving — Draft  Riots  in  New  York — Lin- 
coln's Address  on  the  Field  of  Gettysburg — Grant  and  Sherman 
in  the  West 366 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

POLITICAL   COMPLICATIONS. 

A  "  President-Making"  Congress — Activity  of  Lincoln's  Opponents — 
Grant  Appointed  Lieutenant-General — Beginning  of  an  Aggressive 
Campaign — Federal  Successes  in  the  Southwest — Sheridan  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Shenandoah — Political  Troubles  in  Missouri — 
Lincoln  Renominated — McClellan  the  Democratic  Nominee — A 
Diversion  in  Favor  of  Fremont — Peace  Negotiations  at  Niagara 


xii  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

— Five  Hundred  Thousand  Men  Called  Out — Lincoln  Re-elected 
— Renewed  Talk  of  Peace — A  Peace  Conference  at  Hampton 
Roads — "  The  President's  Last,  Shortest,  and  Best  Speech  " — 
The  Second  Inauguration.  .......  401 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  FAMILY   IN   THE   WHITE   HOUSE. 

Plain  Living  and  Simple  Manners — Lincoln's  Kindness  and  His 
Righteous  Wrath — The  Sons  of  Lincoln — The  Boy  of  the  White 
House — The  President  and  His  Cabinet — Threats  of  Assassina- 
tion— Lincoln  and  Chase — The  President's  Dealing  with  Office- 
Seekers — Sundry  Anecdotes.  .......  433 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

END    OF    A     STRANGE    EVENTFUL     HISTORY. 

Symptoms  of  a  Collapse  of  the  Confederacy — Lee  Seeks  a  Parley 
with  Grant — The  Fall  of  Richmond — Flight  of  the  Rebel  Govern- 
ment— Lincoln  in  the  Former  Rebel  Capital — He  Goes  to  the 
Front — The  Surrender  of  Lee — Great  Joy  of  the  People — The 
National  Capital  in  a  Frenzy  of  Delight — Lincoln's  Last  Public 
Speech — His  Death  and  Funeral — Conclusion.  ....  450 

INDEX  469 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

PORTRAIT  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN Frontispiece 

THE  HALF-FACED  CAMP 13 

THE  FUNERAL  SERMON  OF  NANCY  LINCOLN      .         .        ...        .23 

LINCOLN'S  EARLY  HOME  .         .        .        .        .        .         .        .  31 

THE  BOY  LINCOLN     ..........  33 

EXAMPLES  IN  ARITHMETIC         .        . 41 

LINCOLN  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  FLAT-BOAT 43 

NEW  ORLEANS  SLAVE  MARKET 55 

COUNTRY  STORE  AT  NEW  SALEM 57 

LINCOLN'S  WRESTLE  WITH  ARMSTRONG 59 

LINCOLN  SAVES  THE  INDIAN 69 

LINCOLN  AS  A  SURVEYOR  .........  77 

THE  LOG-CABIN  CAMPAIGN        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  107 

THE  LINCOLN  HOME  AT  SPRINGFIELD        ......  129 

KANSAS  EMIGRANT  TRAIN .157 

"WIDE-AWAKE"  PROCESSION — 1860        .         .        .        .        .        .  213 

LINCOLN'S  FIRST  INAUGURATION        .......  253 

THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL 261 

FORT  SUMTER  DURING  THE  BOMBARDMENT — l86l  ....  275 

FAC-SlMILE  OF  THE  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS         .....  396 

NORTH  FRONT  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE       ......  435 

PORTRAIT  OF  ROBERT  LINCOLN 437 

PORTRAIT  OF  "  TAD  "  LINCOLN          .......  439 

STATUE  OF  LINCOLN  IN  CHICAGO        .......  467 


THE  LIFE 

OF 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   LINCOLN   ANCESTRY. 

Condition  of  the  People  at  the  end  of  the  War  for  Independence — Migra- 
tions of  the  earlier  Lincolns — A  Tragedy  in  the  Wilderness — Abraham 
Lincoln's  Parents  in  Kentucky — Birth  of  the  Future  President — The  old 
Kentucky  Home — Another  Migration — A  Great  Disaster  in  Indiana. 

AT  the  end  of  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution  the 
condition  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  was 
one  of  deep  poverty.  The  credit  of  the  government  was 
not  good.  Money  was  scarce.  There  was  no  mint  for  coin- 
age of  American  specie,  and  the  paper  currency  authorized 
by  the  Continental  Congress  was  very  low  in  value.  Im- 
mediately after  the  end  of  the  war,  the  young  republic 
had  had  a  slight  wave  of  prosperity.  Various  kinds  of 
useful  manufactures  had  been  established,  and  people 
dwelling  in  cities  were  at  ease,  and  they  who  dwelt  on 
plantations  and  farms  were  plentifully  supported  by  the 
yields  of  their  acres,  flocks,  and  herds. 


THE   LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

But  this  did  not  last  long.  Very  soon,  the  country  was 
deluged  with  English  goods,  and,  instead  of  being  large 
exporters,  the  people  of  the  United  States  imported  more 
than  they  sent  away.  During  the  two  years  next  suc- 
ceeding the  declaration  of  peace,  the  value  of  goods  im- 
ported from  England  was  about  thirty  million  dollars, 
while  those  exported  did  not  amount  to  nine  millions.  At 
the  beginning  of  1783,  the  public  debt  of  the  republic 
was  about  forty-two  millions,  and  the  debts  of  the  sepa- 
rate States,  added  together,  were  about  one  half  of  that 
sum.  Specie  went  rapidly  out  of  the  country  to  pay  for 
imports,  and  the  almost  worthless  currency  remaining  was 
all  that  the  people  had  for  daily  use. 

So  great  was  this  depression  among  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  old  thirteen  States,  that  many  families  be- 
gan to  turn  their  eyes  and  thoughts  westward,  where,  it 
was  said,  was  a  land  of  plenty.  There,  at  least,  the  soil 
yielded  abundantly  ;  the  forests  were  rilled  with  game,  the 
rivers  with  fish,  and  the  prime  necessities  of  human  life 
were  easily  met.  Among  those  who  went  with  this  wave 
of  Western  migration  was  the  family  of  Lincoln,  from 
which  was  to  spring,  in  years  to  come,  the  President  of 
illustrious  name. 

The  Lincolns  originally  came  from  England,  settling  in 
Hingham,  Massachusetts,  about  the  year  1638.  Thence 
to  Pennsylvania  went  Mordecai  Lincoln,  the  great-great- 
grandfather of  the  President.  The  later  Lincolns  who 
moved  westward  in  1782,  at  the  period  of  which  we  have 
just  spoken,  were  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  Mordecai,  Josiah, 


LINCOLN'S  EARLY  ANCESTORS.  3 

and  Thomas,  his  sons.  They  went  from  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia,  to  Mercer  County,  Kentucky,  in  the  year 
before  mentioned.  At  that  time,  Kentucky  was  a  part  of 
the  great  State  of  Virginia.  It  was  almost  an  untrodden 
wilderness,  and  the  few  settlers  who  were  scattered  over 
its  vast  area  were  brave,  hardy,  adventurous,  and  some- 
times terrible  men.  To  the  savages  who  roamed  the  for- 
ests they  were  indeed  a  terror  and  a  constant  threat.  The 
Indians,  irritated  by  the  unceasing  incoming  of  the  whites, 
and  vainly  thinking  that  they  could  stem  the  tide  that 
poured  in  upon  them,  were  always  at  war  with  the  in- 
truders, and  they  omitted  no  opportunity  to  pick  them 
off  singly,  or  to  drive  them  out  by  sudden  and  deadly  at- 
tacks on  small  settlements. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  grandfather  of  the  President,  entered 
four  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  Licking 
Creek,  under  a  government  warrant.  He  built  a  log-cabin 
near  the  military  post  known  as  Fort  Beargrass,  the  site  of 
the  present  city  of  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Here  the  family 
began  to  open  their  farm,  breaking  up  the  virgin  soil  and 
planting  their  first  crops.  In  the  second  year  of  their  Ken- 
tucky settlement,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  son  Thomas 
being  at  work  in  the  field,  a  sneaking  Indian  waylaid  the 
twain,  and,  firing  from  the  brush,  killed  the  father  at  his 
task.  Mordecai  and  Josiah,  the  elder  brothers,  were  chop- 
ping in  the  forest  near  at  hand,  and,  while  Josiah  ran  to 
the  fort  for  help,  Mordecai  dashed  into  the  cabin  and 
seized  the  ever-ready  rifle.  Looking  through  one  of  the 
port-holes  cut  in  the  logs,  he  saw  the  Indian,  who,  taking 


4  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

advantage  of  the  flight  of  the  boys,  had  seized  little  Tom, 
then  only  six  years  old,  and  was  making  off  with  him  to 
the  woods.  Levelling  his  rifle,  Mordecai  shot  and  killed 
the  Indian,  and  as  he  dropped  to  the  ground,  the  boy, 
liberated  by  the  death  of  his  would-be  captor,  sprang  to 
his  feet  and  fled  to  the  cabin  where  the  future  father  of  the 
President  was  clasped  in  his  mother's  arms.  Josiah  speedily 
returned  from  the  fort  with  a  party  of  settlers  who  took 
up  the  bodies  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  slayer. 

This  scene,  as  may  be  imagined,  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  the  minds  of  the  three  boys.  It  is  said  that  Mor- 
decai, standing  over  the  form  of  his  slain  father,  on  the 
soil  to  be  known  for  generations  thereafter  as  "  the  dark 
and  bloody  ground,"  vowed  that  that  precious  life  should 
be  richly  paid  for  in  Indian  blood.  Certain  it  is  that,  from 
that  time  forth,  Mordecai  Lincoln  was  the  mortal  enemy 
of  the  red  man,  and"  many  an  Indian  fell  before  his  terrible 
rifle. 

By  this  lamentable  death,  the  widow  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln was  left  alone  to  care  for  five  children — Mordecai, 
Josiah,  Thomas,  Mary,  and  Nancy.  Of  their  struggles  and 
hardships  we  know  nothing  positively;  but  these  can  be 
imagined.  Poverty  oppressed  the  entire  republic.  In 
the  wilderness  of  Kentucky,  there  were  few  gleams  of 
light,  no  schools,  scanty  means  for  acquiring  even  the  art 
of  reading  and  writing,  and  no  apparent  need  of  the  higher 
branches  of  a  common-school  education.  In  the  hard, 
rude  life  of  the  frontier,  in  ignorance  and  poverty,  the 
father  of  the  President  grew  to  man's  estate.  In  later 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  PARENTS.  5 

years,  his  son  Abraham,  asked  to  tell  what  he  knew  of  his 
father's  life,  said  :  "  My  father,  at  the  time  of  the  death  of 
his  father,  was  but  six  years  old,  and  he  grew  up  literally 
without  education."  He  was  a  tall,  well-built,  and  muscu- 
lar man,  quick  with  his  rifle,  an  expert  hunter,  good- 
riatured  and  easy-going,  but  neither  industrious  nor  enter- 
prising. Unable  to  read  until  after  his  marriage,  he  in- 
variably put  on  his  lack  of  education  all  responsibility  for 
his  failures  in  life  ;  and  these  were  many.  To  his  credit  it 
should  be  said  that  he  resolved  that  no  child  of  his  should 
ever  be  crippled  as  he  had  been  for  lack  of  knowledge  of 
the  commonest  rudiments  of  learning. 

While  yet  a  lad,  he  hired  himself  to  his  uncle,  Isaac 
Lincoln,  then  living  on  a  claim  that  he  had  taken  on  Wa- 
tauga  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Holson  River.  Manual  labor 
filled  the  years  of  Tom's  young  manhood.  Felling  forests, 
breaking  up  the  soil,  building  the  rude  cabins  of  the  time, 
and  rearing  the  crops  needed  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
hardy  settlers  and  their  broods— these  were  the  occupa^ 
tions  of  those  years.  The  woods  were  thickly  tenanted 
by  bears,  deer,  catamounts,  and  other  wild  creatures,  and 
so  far  as  hunting  was  a  diversion  from  toil,  this  amuse- 
ment was  ready  in  abundance.  But  hunting  was  neces- 
sary for  procuring  meat  for  the  table  and  furs  and  skins 
for  clothing  and  for  barter  with  distant  trading-posts. 
Thomas  Lincoln  was  a  laboring  man,  working  for  others, 
and  compelled  to  take  for  wages  whatever  he  could  get  in 
a  region  where  every  man  wrought  with  his  own  hands 
and  few  hired  from  others, 


6  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Thomas  Lincoln  was  married,  in  1806,  to  Nancy  Hanks, 
formerly  of  Virginia.  The  young  bride  was  taken  by  her 
husband  to  a  rude  log-cabin  that  he  had  built  for  himself 
near  Nolin  Creek,  in  what  is  now  Larue  County,  Kentucky. 
The  region  was  well  covered  with  timber,  and,  where 
cleared  and  planted,  bore  good  harvests.  It  was  a  pictu- 
resque and  rolling  country,  and  some  of  the  hills  rise  to  the 
dignity  of  mountains.  One  of  these  is  called  Shiny 
Mountain  and  another  is  known  as  Blue  Ball.  Here  and 
there  were  clearings,  and  smiling  fields  were  gradually 
taking  the  place  of  pathless  woods. 

In  this  cabin,  February  12,  1806,  was  born  Abraham 
Lincoln,  who  was  to  be  the  i6th  President  of  the  United 
States.  While  he  was  yet  an  infant,  the  family  removed 
to  another  log-cabin  not  far  distant,  and  in  these  two 
homes  Abraham  Lincoln  spent  the  first  seven  years  of  his 
life.  One  sister,  Sarah,  was  a  year  older  than  he  ;  and  one 
brother,  Thomas,  two  years  younger,  died  in  infancy. 
Mrs.  Lincoln  was  described  by  her  son  Abraham  as  of 
medium  stature,  dark,  with  soft  and  rather  mirthful  eyes. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character  and  passion- 
ately fond  of  reading.  Every  book  on  which  she  could 
lay  hands  was  eagerly  read,  and  her  son  said,  years  after- 
wards, that  his  earliest  recollection  of  his  mother  was  of 
his  sitting  at  her  feet  with  his  sister,  drinking  in  the  tales 
and  legends  that  were  read  or  related  to  them  by  the 
house-mother. 

Theirs  was  a  very  humble  and  even  poverty-stricken 
home.  The  mother  was  used  to  the  rifle,  and  not  only 


THE   OLD  KENTUCKY  HOME.  7 

did  she  bring  down  the  bear,  or  deer,  and  dress  its  flesh 
for  the  family  table,  but  her  skilful  hand  wrought  gar- 
ments and  moccasins  and  head-gear  from  the  skins.  The 
most  vivid  impression  that  we  have  of  the  mother  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  one  of  sadness,  toil,  and  unremitting 
anxiety.  That  was  a  hard  life  for  a  sensitive  and  slender 
woman  which  was  led  by  the  mother  of  the  President. 
The  country  was  very  poor  in  all  that  makes  life  easy. 
The  little  family  was  far  from  any  considerable  settle- 
ment. Father  and  mother  were  alike  religious  and  resolved 
to  bring  up  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God ;  but  places 
of  worship,  schools,  and  all  the  means  of  even  a  common 
education  were  not  near  at  hand.  Mrs.  Lincoln  taught 
her  two  children  their  first  lessons  in  the  alphabet  and 
spelling.  When  Abraham  was  in  his  seventh  year,  Zach- 
ariah  Riney  came  into  the  vicinity  and  the  lad  was  sent 
to  his  school.  Riney  was  a  Catholic  and  the  Protestant 
children  that  attended  his  humble  school  were  withdrawn 
from  the  little  log  school-house  whenever  any  religious 
exercises  were  held.  In  later  years,  Lincoln  spoke  of  this 
his  first  schoolmaster  with  respect  and  esteem,  although 
Riney  did  not  long  continue  to  teach  the  future  Presi- 
dent. Later  on,  Caleb  Hazel,  a  spirited  and  manly  young 
fellow,  succeeded  Riney  as  teacher,  and  Abraham  at- 
tended his  school  three  months.  So  rare  were  opportun- 
ities for  going  to  school  in  those  days,  that  Lincoln  never 
forgot  the  lessons  he  learned  of  Caleb  Hazel  and  the 
pleasure  that  he  felt  in  that  great  event  of  his  life — going 
to  school. 


8  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

In  those  primitive  times,  preaching  was  usually  had 
under  the  trees  or  in  the  cabins  of  those  few  who  were  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  a  bigger  roof  than  most  of  their 
neighbors.  Lincoln  was  a  full-grown  lad  when  he  first 
saw  a  church,  and  it  was  only  from  the  lips  of  wandering 
preachers,  devoted  men  of  God,  that  he  heard  the  words 
of  Christian  doctrine,  reproof,  and  admonition.  At  long 
intervals,  Parson  Elkin,  a  Baptist  preacher,  took  his  way 
through  the  region  in  which  the  Lincolns  lived,  and 
young  Abraham,  fascinated  by  hearing  long  discourses 
fall  from  the  lips  of  the  speaker,  apparently  without  any 
previous  study  or  preparation,  never  failed  to  travel  far, 
if  necessary,  to  attend  on  his  simple  services.  The  boy's 
first  notion  of  public  speaking  were  taken  from  the 
itinerant,  and,  years  afterwards,  the  President  referred 
to  the  preacher  as  the  most  wonderful  man  known  to  his 
boyish  experience. 

Thomas  Lincoln  wearied  of  his  Kentucky  home.  There 
was  great  trouble  in  getting  land  titles;  even  Daniel 
Boone,  the  pioneer  and  surveyor  of  the  land,  upon 
whom  had  been  conferred  a  great  grant,  was  shorn  of 
much  of  his  lawful  property,  and  a  cloud  was  laid  on 
nearly  every  man's  right  to  own  his  homestead.  Slavery, 
too,  was  asserting  itself  in  the  region,  and,  although  a 
dislike  for  the  institution  of  slavery  did  not  unsettle 
Thomas  Lincoln,  it  is  likely  that  the  fact  that  he  was  too 
poor  to  own  slaves  and  would  be  brought  into  direct  re- 
lations with  men  who  could  own  this  peculiar  kind  of 
property,  helped  to  make  him  dissatisfied  with  his  sur- 


ANOTHER  MIGRATION,  9 

foundings.  But  the  real  cause  of  his  hankering  after  a 
new  home  was  probably  his  thriftlessness.  Like  many 
another  pioneer,  he  saw  something  better  far  ahead.  The 
tales  of  wonderfully  rich  soil,  abundant  game,  fine  timber, 
and  rich  pasturage  that  came  to  Kentucky  from  Indiana 
were  just  like  the  rosy  reports  of  the  riches  and  attractions 
of  Kentucky  that  had  enticed  the  elder  Lincolns  from 
their  home  in  Virginia,  years  before.  So  Thomas  resolved 
to  "pull  up  stakes"  and  move  on,  still  to  the  westward. 
Thomas  found  a  new-comer  who  was  willing  to  take  his 
partly-improved  farm  and  log-cabin  for  ten  barrels  of 
whiskey  and  twenty  dollars  in  cash.  This  represented 
three  hundred  dollars  in  value,  and  was  the  price  that  he 
had  set  upon  his  homestead.  Whiskey  made  from  corn 
was,  in  those  days,  one  of  the  readiest  forms  of  currency 
in  the  trading  and  barter  continually  going  on  among  the 
settlers ;  and  even  where  drunkenness  was  almost  unknown, 
the  fiery  spirit  was  regarded  as  a  perfectly  legitimate  article 
of  daily  use  and  a  substitute  for  money  in  trade.  Aided 
by  his  boys,  Thomas  Lincoln  built  a  flat-boat,  and,  launch- 
ing it  on  the  turbid  waters  of  the  Rolling  Fork,  which 
empties  into  the  Ohio,  he  loaded  it  with  his  ten  barrels  of 
whiskey  and  the  heavier  articles  of  household  furniture. 
Then,  pushing  off  alone,  but  followed  by  the  hurrahs  of 
his  two  children,  he  floated  safely  down  to  the  Ohio. 
Here  he  met  with  a  great  disaster.  Caught  between  ed- 
dying currents,  and  entangled  in  the  snags  and  "  sawyers" 
that  beset  the  stream,  Lincoln's  frail  craft  was  upset  and 
much  of  his  stuff  was  lost.  With  assistance,  the  boat  was 


IO  THE   LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

righted,  and,  with  what  had  been  saved  from  the  wreck, 
Thomas  Lincoln  landed  at  Thompson's  Ferry,  found  an 
ox-cart  to  transport  his  slender  stock  of  valuables  into  the 
forest,  and  finally  piled  them  in  an  oak-opening  in  Spencer 
County,  Indiana,  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  river. 

Left  at  home,  in  their  dismantled  cabin,  with  a  scanty 
supply  of  provisions,  the  mother  and  little  ones  made  the 
most  of  their  time.  The  two  children  attended  Caleb 
Hazel's  school,  but  Abraham  found  time  to  snare  game 
for  the  family  dinner-pot,  and,  in  an  emergency,  the  house- 
mother could  knock  over  a  deer  at  long  range.  One  bed- 
ticking,  filled  with  dried  forest  leaves  and  husks,  sufficed 
for  their  rest  at  night,  and,  bright  and  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  future  President  was  out  in  the  nipping  autumn 
air,  chopping  wood  for  the  day's  fire.  As  the  time  drew 
near  for  the  father's  return,  Mrs.  Lincoln  leading  her 
living  boy,  paid  her  last  visit  to  the  grave  of  the  little  one 
whom  she  had  lost  in  infancy.  And  his  sad  mother's 
prayers  and  tears  by  the  side  of  the  unmarked  mound  in 
the  wilderness,  soon  to  be  left  behind  by  the  emigrants, 
made  an  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  lad  that  time 
never  effaced. 

But  when  Thomas  Lincoln  returned  to  his  small  brood, 
it  was  not  with  any  boastfulness.  He  had  met  with  what 
was  to  them  a  great  loss.  Much  of  their  meagre  stock  of 
household  stuff  and  farming  tools  was  at  the  bottom  of 
the  Ohio  River.  Leaving  the  rescued  fragments  in  care 
of  a  friendly  settler,  he  had  made  a  bee-line  for  the  old 
Kentucky  home  ;  and  here  he  was  with  a  flattering  report 


SEEKING  A   NEW  HOME.  1 1 

of  the  richness   of  the   land   to  which  they  were  bound 
to  go. 

It  was  a  long  journey  that  was  before  them.  Procuring 
two  horses  and  loading  them  with  the  household  stuff 
and  wardrobe  of  the  family,  Thomas  Lincoln,  wife,  and 
two  children  took  up  their  line  of  march  for  the  new 
home  in  Indiana.  At  night,  they  slept  on  the  fragrant 
pine  twigs  ;  and  by  day  they  plodded  their  way  toward 
the  Ohio  River.  They  were  like  true  soldiers  of  fortune, 
subsisting  on  the  country  through  which  they  marched. 
Here  and  there,  it  was  needful  to  clear  their  way  through 
tangled  thickets,  and  now  and  again  they  came  to  streams 
that  must  be  forded  or  swum.  By  all  sorts  of  expedients, 
the  little  family  contrived  to  get  on  from  day  to  day, 
occupying  a  week  in  this  transit  from  one  home  to 
another.  The  nights  were  cool  but  pleasant.  No  rain 
fell  on  them  in  the  way,  and  when,  after  a  week  of  free 
and  easy  life  in  the  woods,  they  came  to  the  bank  of  the 
river  and  looked  over  into  the  promised  land,  they  saw 
nothing  but  forest,  almost  trackless  forest,  stretching  far 
up  and  down  the  stream,  silent  save  for  its  ripplings  and 
the  occasional  note  of  some  wandering  bird. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   BOYHOOD    OF  LINCOLN. 

The  Lincoln  Home  in  Indiana — Hard  Times — The  Boy  of  the  Backwoods — 
Log-Cabin  Building — Abraham's  Lincoln's  First  Letter — The  Funeral 
in  the  Wilderness — The  Boy's  First  Book. 

INDIANA  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State, 
and  the  tide  of  immigration  setting  into  the  new  State 
was  full  and  far  spreading.  But  neighbors  were  not  un- 
comfortably near  the  Lincolns  in  their  new  home.  Pick- 
ing up  their  property  left  in  charge  of  one  of  the  scattered 
settlers  by  Thomas  Lincoln  on  his  first  visit,  the  forlorn 
family  pushed  on  into  the  wilderness,  where  on  a  grassy 
knoll  in  the  heart  of  the  untrodden  forest,  they  fixed 
upon  the  site  of  their  future  dwelling-place. 

A  slight  hunter's  camp  was  all  that  could  be  built  to 
shelter  the  new  settlers  during  their  first  winter  in  the 
woods  of  Southern  Indiana.  This  was  what  was  some- 
times called  a  "  half-faced  camp,"  open  on  one  side  and  that 
the  lower.  Four  uprights,  forked  at  the  top,  formed  the 
corner-posts,  the  rear  being  higher  than  the  front.  On 
these  corner-poles  were  laid  the  cross-pieces  needed  to 
form  the  edges  of  the  roof,  and  across  these  were  the 
sloping  rafters,  covered  with  split  "  shakes  "  or  thin  slabs 

12 


T.SJ 

;      ASF] 


14  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

from  the  trees  felled  by  the  hardy  backwoodsman  and  his 
boy.  Poles  set  up  against  the  outer  framework  and 
"chinked  in  "  with  chips  and  clay,  made  a  shelter  from 
the  blasts  that  howled  around.  The  open  front  was  par- 
tially screened  with  "  pelts,"  as  the  half-dressed  skins  of 
wild  animals  were  called.  A  fireplace  of  sticks  and  clay, 
with  a  chimney  of  the  same  materials,  occupied  one  cor- 
ner of  the  hut.  Here  the  future  President  of  the  repub- 
lic spent  his  first  winter  in  the  new  State  of  Indiana. 

Let  us  consider  the  lad  and  some  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  time.  He  was  now  in  his  eighth  year,  tall,  ungain- 
ly, fast-growing,  long-legged,  and  clad  in  the  garb  of  the 
frontier.  Cotton  and  linen  goods  were  scarce  and  costly 
in  those  primitive  days  and  in  that  far-off  wilderness. 
Abraham  wore  a  shirt  of  linsey-woolsey,  a  fabric,  home- 
spun of  mixed  cotton  and  wool,  and  dyed,  if  at  all,  with 
colors  obtained  from  the  roots  and  barks  of  the  forest. 
According  to  his  own  statement,  he  never  wore  stockings 
until  he  was  "  a  young  man  grown."  His  feet  were  cov- 
ered with  rough  cowhide  shoes,  but  oftener  with  mocca- 
sins fashioned  deftly  by  his  mother's  hands.  Deerskin 
leggings,  or  breeches,  and  a  hunting-shirt  of  the  same  ma- 
terjal  completed  his  outfit,  except  for  the  coon-skin  cap 
that  adorned  his  shaggy  head,  the  tail  of  the  animal  hang- 
ing down  behind,  at  once  an  ornament  and  a  convenient 
handle  when  occasion  required. 

A  rifle  only  was  needed  to  finish  this  picture  of  a  back- 
woodsman in  miniature.  But  the  lad  did  not  take  kindly 
to  hunting.  He  pursued  the  wild-woods  game  only  when 


HARD  TIMES.  I  5 

the  family  demand  for  meat  could  not  be  satisfied  in  any 
other  way.  Once,  as  he  used  to  tell  of  himself,  while  yet 
a  child,  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys 
feeding  near  the  camp,  and,  venturously  taking  down  his 
father's  rifle  from  its  pegs  on  the  wall,  he  took  aim 
through  a  chink  in  the  cabin  and  killed  a  noble  bird.  It 
was  his  first  shot  at  a  living  thing,  and  he  never  forgot 
the  mingled  pain  and  pleasure  that  it  brought — pain  be- 
cause he  dreaded  to  take  life,  and  pleasure  because  he  had 
brought  down  his  game. 

It  was  a  poor  time  all  over  the  land  in  those  early  years 
of  the  Lincoln  family  in  Indiana.  The  war  of  1812  had 
just  closed.  The  consequences  of  the  long  embargo, 
when  all  American  ports  were  closed  to  commerce,  none 
coming  in  and  none  going  out,  were  still  felt  in  every 
town,  city,  and  hamlet  in  the  land.  The  manufacturing 
industries  of  the  republic  were  feeble,  and  imported  arti- 
cles were  so  dear  as  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  all  but  the 
rich.  Thorns  were  used  for  pins,  slices  of  cork  covered 
with  cloth,  or  ingeniously  fashioned  bits  of  bone,  did  duty 
for  buttons ;  except  in  times  of  plenty,  crusts  of  rye 
bread  were  substituted  for  coffee,  and  dried  leaves  of  sun- 
dry dried  herbs  took  the  place  of  Bohea  tea.  Corn  whis- 
key tempered  with  water  was  a  common  drink,  and  the 
stuff  was  one  of  the  readiest  forms  of  business  currency  in 
the  country  of  the  West. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  West  was  productive  of  the  means 
of  sustaining  life.  The  woods  swarmed  with  bears,  deer, 
woodchucks,  raccoons,  wild  turkeys,  and  other  creatures, 


1 6  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

furry  or  feathered,  useful  for  the  table  or  for  furnishing 
forth  the  scanty  wardrobe  of  the  settlers.  None  need 
starve,  so  long  as  snares  and  ammunition  were  handy  for 
the  hunter  and  trapper.  But  it  was  a  hard  life,  hard  for 
children,  and  hardest  of  all  for  women.  No  neighbor 
dropped  in  for  a  few  minutes'  friendly  gossip,  with  the 
small  news  of  the  day.  No  steamboat  vexed  the  waters 
of  the  Western  rivers,  the  first  steam  craft  of  any  kind 
having  been  put  on  Lake  Erie  as  late  as  1818.  A  letter, 
provided  the  rude  settler  knew  how  to  write,  took  weeks, 
even  months,  in  a  leisurely  journey  of  one  hundred  miles. 
Only  as  a  faint  echo  from  out  of  another  world  came  the 
news  of  domestic  politics,  foreign  complications,  and  na- 
tional affairs.  James  Madison  was  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  Congress  and  the  country  were  stirred  greatly 
over  the  admission  of  Missouri,  the  extension  of  slavery 
westward  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  other  matters  of 
great  moment  then  and  thereafter. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1816  that  the  Lincolns  took 
up  their  abode  in  the  wilds  of  Indiana.  In  February  of 
the  following  year,  Thomas  Lincoln,  with  the  slight  assist- 
ance of  little  Abe,  felled  the  logs  needed  for  a  substantial 
cabin.  These  were  cut  to  the  proper  lengths,  notched 
near  the  ends  so  as  to  fit  into  each  other  when  laid  up ; 
and  then  the  neighbors  from  far  and  near  were  summoned 
to  the  "  raisin',  "  which  was  an  event  in  those  days  for 
much  rude  jollity  and  cordial  good-fellowship.  A  raising 
was  an  occasion  for  merry-making,  as  well  as  for  hard 
work ;  and  these  opportunities  for  social  gatherings,  few 


LOG-CABIN  BUILDING.  I/ 

as  they  were,  were  enjoyed  by  young  and  old.  The  help- 
ful settlers  "  snaked  "  the  logs  out  of  the  woods,  fitted  the 
sills  in  their  places,  rolled  the  other  logs  up  by  means  of 
various  rude  contrivances,  and,  before  nightfall,  had  in 
shape  the  four  walls  of  the  log-cabin,  with  the  gables  fixed 
in  position,  and  poles  fastened  on  with  wooden  pins  to 
serve  as  rafters,  and  even  some  progress  was  made  in  the 
way  of  covering  the  roof. 

The  floor  of  this  primitive  habitation  was  the  solid 
ground,  pounded  hard.  The  cracks  between  the  bark- 
covered  logs  were  "  chinked  "  with  thin  strips  of  wood 
split  from  the  plentiful  timber.  Similar  labor  "  rived  "  or 
split  the  "  shakes"  with  which  the  roof  was  covered  and 
from  which  the  swinging  door  was  made.  Later  on,  after 
his  second  marriage,  when  Thomas  Lincoln  felt  in  a  more 
industrious  mood,  huge  slabs  of  wood,  split  from  oak  and 
hickory  logs,  and  known  as  "puncheons"  were  laid  on 
floor  joists  of  logs  and  were  loosely  pinned  in  place  by 
long  wooden  pegs.  In  mature  life,  years  afterwards,  when 
the  pioneer  boy  had  become  the  tenant  of  the  White 
House  at  Washington,  he  could  remember  how  he  lay  in 
bed,  of  a  cold  morning,  listening  for  his  mother's  footsteps 
rattling  the  slabs  of  the  puncheon  floor,  as  she  came  to 
rouse  him  from  a  pretended  sleep. 

Boys  who  have  never  lived  in  the  Western  wilderness 
can  have  no  notion  of  the  meagre  fare,  the  rudeness  of  the 
furniture,  and  the  absence  of  those  things  which  we  call 
the  necessities  of  life,  that  characterized  the  humble 
homes  of  the  Indiana  settlers  of  those  distant  days.  In 


1 8  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

one  corner  of  the  cabin,  two  of  its  sides  formed  by  the 
walls  thereof,  was  built  the  bedstead  of  the  father  and 
mother.  Only  one  leg  was  needed,  and  this  was  driven 
down  into  the  ground,  a  forked  top  giving  a  chance  to  fit 
in  the  cross-pieces  that  served  for  foot  and  side  of  this 
simple  bit  of  furniture.  From  these  to  the  logs  at  the 
side  and  head  of  the  bedstead  were  laid  split  "  shakes," 
and  sometimes  thongs  of  deerskin  were  laced  back  and 
forth  after  the  fashion  of  bedcording.  On  this  was  placed 
the  mattress  filled  with  dried  leaves,  corn-husks,  or  what- 
ever came  handy.  The  children's  bed,  a  smaller  contriv- 
ance, was  sometimes  fixed  in  another  corner,  but,  when 
the  wintry  wind  whistled  around  the  cabin  and  the  dry 
snow  sifted  through  the  cracks,  the  little  ones  stole  over 
to  the  parental  bed  for  warmth. 

In  making  all  these  preparations  for  h^me-life  under 
their  own  roof,  little  Abe  took  an  active  part.  He  early 
learned  the  use  of  the  axe,  the  maul,  and  the  wedge.  With 
the  "  froe,"  a  clumsy  iron  tool,  something  like  a  long  wedge 
with  a  wooden  handle  fitted  into  one  end,  he  was  taught 
to  "  rive  "  the  shingle  from  the  slab  ;  and  with  maul  and 
wedges — a  highly-prized  possession — he  mastered  the  art 
of  splitting  rails  and  billets  of  wood  for  building  pur- 
poses from  the  logs  drawn  from  the  forest.  In  labors 
like  these,  the  lad  hardened  his  sinews,  toughened  his 
hands,  and  imbibed  a  knowledge  of  woodcraft  and  the 
practical  uses  of  every  variety  of  timber  which  he  never 
lost  while  he  lived.  He  knew  every  tree,  bush,  and 
shrub  by  its  foliage  and  bark,  as  far  as  he  could  see  it. 


SUPERSTITION.  19 

The  mysterious  juices  that  gave  healing  to  wounds  and 
bruises,  the  roots  that  held  medicinal  virtues  in  their  sap, 
and  the  uses  to  which  every  sort  of  woody  fibre  was  best 
adapted,  were  all  familiar  to  him. 

It  was  impossible  that  a  boy,  so  imaginative  and  full  of 
fancy  as  young  Abe  certainly  was,  should  grow  up  in 
these  forests  and  shades  without  imbibing  some  queer 
notions,  as  the  country  folk  said,  about  men  and  things. 
The  times  were  superstitious.  Men  saw  all  sorts  of  signs 
and  omens  in  clouds,  in  plants,  and  in  other  objects  of 
nature.  To  the  ignorant,  the  woods  were  peopled  with 
strange  and  uncanny  creatures,  and  Indian  legends  and 
stories  were  told  of  many  a  stretch  of  trackless  forest. 
Even  to  the  ear  of  the  most  practical  of  mankind,  there 
is  an  awesome  solitude  in  unexplored  forest  wilderness ; 
and  the  sighing  of  the  winds,  the  roar  of  night-growling 
animals,  the  hollow  murmur  of  distant  streams,  and  the 
indescribable  hum  that  goes  up  continually  from  the  hid- 
den life  of  the  forest  are  ever  after  in  the  memory  of 
those  who  have  spent  much  of  their  childhood  in  scenes 
like  these.  It  was  from  the  trackless  forest  that  stretched 
around  their  home,  only  faintly  scarred  by  the  wood- 
man's axe,  that  the  Lincoln  family  drew  their  sustenance 
and  their  clothing,  even  the  simple  remedies  that  they 
required  in  time  of  sickness.  And  it  was  a  school  in 
which  the  brooding  lad  took  in  many  a  lesson,  and  which 
suggested  many  a  thought  that  could  not  be  expressed 
in  words.  Here  he  acquired  habits  of  reflection,  for  it 
must  be  confessed  that  he  did  not  like  work  any  better 


2O  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

than  other  boys  of  his  age,  and  he  did  like  to  spend  idle 
hours  in  roaming  the  wild-wood ;  and  Lincoln  never  to 
the  latest  day  of  his  life  forgot  the  traditions  and  the 
scenery  of  the  wilderness  in  which  his  childhood  was 
spent,  never  lost  the  lesson  of  God's  greatness  and  man's 
insignificance  that  the  boundless  forest,  with  its  occa- 
sional glimses  of  blue  above  and  far-reaching  vistas  ahead, 
taught  him. 

It  was  during  their  first  year  in  Indiana,  and  when 
Abraham  was  in  his  tenth  year,  that  the  children  suffered 
their  first  great  sorrow  and  loss.  Hard  work,  exposure, 
and  continual  anxiety  had  told  on  the  good  mother,  and 
when,  during  the  summer  of  1818,  a  mysterious  disease 
called  "  the  milk-sick  "  appeared  in  the  region,  the  over- 
worked woman  was  stricken  down  with  it.  Exactly  what 
"  the  milk-sick  "  was,  nobody  nowadays  seems  to  know. 
No  physician  acknowledges  any  such  form  of  sickness ; 
but  there  are  traditions  of  it  yet  extant  in  the  Western 
States,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  later  in  life,  described  it  as  re- 
sembling a  quick  consumption.  Cattle,  as  well  as  human 
beings  were  destroyed  by  it,  and  in  the  far-off  wilderness, 
it  was  not  then  uncommon  to  find  an  entire  household 
prostrated  with  the  disease,  while  flocks  and  herds  were 
dying  uncared  for.  It  was  a  sad  and  gloomy  time  all 
through  Southern  Indiana  and  Kentucky  when  "the  milk- 
sick  "  raged. 

Nancy  Lincoln,  smitten  with  the  disorder,  was  nursed 
and  tendered  by  her  husband  and  children.  No  doctor 
ever  came  into  that  distant  wilderness,  and  no  help  could 


FUNERAL  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  21 

be  procured  from  any  source.  In  the  preceding  autumn, 
Mrs.  Betsy  Sparrow  and  her  husband  and  her  little 
nephew,  Dennis  Hanks,  had  followed  the  Lincolns  into 
Indiana  and  were  settled  not  far  away  in  the  half-face 
camp.  Dennis  Hanks  was  Abraham's  playmate  and  dis- 
tant cousin,  for  Mrs.  Sparrow  was  Nancy  Lincoln's  aunt. 
The  Sparrows,  man  and  wife,  were  taken  down  with  "the 
milk-sick  "  and  were  removed  to  the  Lincoln  cabin,  with 
little  Dennis  Hanks,  for  better  attendance.  With  plague- 
stricken  Thomas  and  Betsy  Sparrow,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
the  cares  of  housekeeping  and  nursing,  and  the  duty  of 
providing  for  this  feeble  household,  poor  Thomas  Lincoln, 
unthrifty  that  he  was,  had  his  hands  full.  The  children 
were  all  small,  and  thus  early  in  life  did  Abraham  find 
how  hard  was  the  lot  of  the  poor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sparrow  first  died  and  were  buried  on  a 
little  knoll  in  the  forest  within  seeing  distance  of  the 
cabin.  On  the  5th  of  October,  a  few  days  later,  Nancy 
Lincoln  died ;  and  she  too  was  buried  in  the  forest,  under 
the  shade  of  a  spreading  and  majestic  sycamore.  There 
were  no  funeral  ceremonies,  for  there  was  no  man  of  God 
to  conduct  them.  And  when  the  wayworn  form  of  the 
mother  was  lowered  into  the  grave,  enclosed  in  the  rude 
casket  of  wood  shaped  by  the  hands  of  Thomas  Lincoln, 
and  all  was  over,  little  Abraham  Lincoln,  sitting  alone  on 
the  mound  of  fresh  earth  until  the  shadows  grew  deep 
and  dark  in  the  forest,  and  the  sound  of  night-birds  began 
to  echo  through  the  dim  aisles,  wept  his  first  bitter  tears. 
Doubtless,  he  thought  of  all  that  his  mother,  the  faithful 


22  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

teacher  and  devoted  Christian  guide  and  friend,  had  been 
to  him.  Long  after,  when  the  spot  where  she  was  buried  ' 
had  been  covered  by  the  wreck  of  the  forest  and  almost 
hidden,  her  son  was  wont  to  say,  with  tear-dimmed  eyes, 
"all  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother." 

It  was  the  custom  of  those  days,  and  of  that  country, 
to  have  a  funeral  sermon  preached  by  way  of  memorial, 
any  time  within  the  year  following  the  death  of  a  person. 
So,  as  soon  as  the  good  mother  was  buried,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln composed  what  he  used  to  say  was  his  first  letter, 
and  addressed  it  to  Parson  Elkin,  the  Kentucky  Baptist 
preacher  who  had  sometimes  tarried  with  the  Lincolns  in 
their  humble  home  in  Kentucky.  It  was  a  great  favor  to 
ask  of  the  good  man  ;  for  his  journey  to  preach  a  sermon 
over  the  grave  of  Nancy  Lincoln  would  take  him  one 
hundred  miles  or  more,  far  from  his  customary  "  staming- 
ground."  But,  in  due  time,  Abraham  received  an  an- 
swer to  his  letter,  and  the  parson  promised  to  come  when 
his  calls  of  duty  led  him  near  the  Indiana  line. 

Early  in  the  following  summer,  when  the  trees  were  in 
the  greenest  and  the  forest  was  most  beautiful,  the 
preacher  came  on  his  errand  of  kindness.  It  was  a  bright 
and  sunny  Sabbath  morning,  when,  due  notice  having 
been  sent  around  through  all  the  region,  men,  women,  and 
children  gathered  from  far  and  near  to  hear  the  funeral 
sermon  of  Nancy  Lincoln.  There  was  the  hardy  forest 

1  A  stone  has  been  placed  over  the  site  of  the  grave  by  Mr.  P.  E.  Stude- 
backer  of  South  Bend,  Indiana.  The  stone  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  "Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln,  died  October  5th,  A.D.  1818,  aged  35 
years.  Erected  by  a  friend  of  her  martyred  son,  1879." 


24  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ranger,  come  in  from  his  far-wanderings  quests  to  hear. 
There  were  the  farmers  and  their  families,  borne  hither 
in  rude  and  home-made  carts,  new-comers  some  of  them, 
and  homesick  for  their  distant  birthplaces.  Two  hun- 
dred of  them,  all  told,  some  on  foot,  and  some  on  horse- 
back, and  others  drawn  in  ox-carts.  All  were  intent  on 
the  great  event  of  the  season — the  preaching  of  Nancy 
Lincoln's  funeral  sermon. 

The  waiting  congregation  was  grouped  around  on 
"  down  trees "  stumps  and  knots  of  bunch-grass,  or  on 
wagon-tongues,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  little  pro- 
cession. The  preacher  .led  the  way  from  the  Lincoln 
cabin,  followed  by  Thomas  Lincoln,  his  son  Abraham,  his 
daughter  Sarah,  and  little  Dennis  Hanks,  bereft  now  of 
father  and  mother  and  a  member  of  the  Lincoln  house- 
hold. Tears  shone  on  the  sun-browned  cheeks  of  the 
silent  settlers  as  the  good  preacher  told  of  the  virtues  and 
the  patiently  borne  sufferings  and  sorrows  of  the  departed 
mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln:  And  every  head  was  bowed 
in  reverential  solemnity  as  he  lifted  up  his  voice  in  prayer 
for  the  motherless  children  and  the  widowed  man.  To 
Abraham,  listening  as  he  did  to  the  last  words  that 
should  be  said  over  the  grave  of  his  mother,  this  was  a 
very  memorable  occasion.  He  had  fulfilled  a  pious  duty 
in  bringing  the  preacher  to  the  place  where  she  was  laid. 
And  as  the  words,  wonderful  to  him,  dropped  from  the 
speaker's  lips,  he  felt  that  this  was  the  end,  at  last,  of  a 
lovely  and  gentle  life.  He  might  be  drawn  into  busy  and 
trying  scenes  hereafter,  and  he  might  have  many  and 


ffIS  FIRST  BOOKS.  2$ 

mighty  cares  laid  on  him,  but  that  scene  in  the  forest  by 
the  lonely  grave  of  his  mother  was  never  to  be  forgotten. 

It  was  a  miserable  household  that  was  left  for  the 
three  youngsters  when  shiftless  Thomas  Lincoln  was  the 
only  reliance  of  the  little  brood.  We  can  imagine  how 
unkempt  and  ragged  the  three  became,  left  almost  wholly 
to  themselves.  Sarah,  scarcely  twelve  years  old,  was  the 
housekeeper.  Abe,  two  years  younger,  came  next,  and 
Dennis  Hanks,  eighteen  months  younger  than  young 
Lincoln,  was  the  infant  of  the  family.  Thomas  Lincoln 
did  not  brood  long  over  his  loneliness.  His  was  a  cheer- 
ful temper,  and  he  hoped  that  the  good  Lord  would  send 
them  help,  somehow  and  some  day,  but  how  and  when, 
he  never  stopped  to  think.  Deer-flesh  and  the  birds  of 
the  forest,  broiled  on  the  coals,  were  the  staple  of  their 
daily  food.  The  father  knew  better  than  Sarah  did,  how 
to  mix  an  ash-cake  of  corn-meal,  and  with  milk  from  the 
cow,  and  an  occasional  slab  of  "  side-meat,"  or  smoked 
side  of  pork,  the  family  was  never  long  hungry.  It  was 
primitive  and  hard  fare.  But  a  boy  might  nourish  him- 
self on  that  and  live  to  be  President. 

Little  Abraham  had  what  was  more  to  him  than  meat 
and  drink — books.  Boys  of  the  present  age,  turning 
over  languidly  the  piles  of  books  at  their  command,  beau- 
tiful, entertaining,  instructive,  and  fascinating,  gay  with 
binding  and  pictures,  would  stand  aghast  at  the  slimness 
of  the  stock  that  made  Abraham  Lincoln's  heart  glad. 
The  first  books  he  read  were  the  Bible,  ^Esop's  Fables 
and  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress."  On  these  three  books 


26  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

was  formed  the  literary  taste  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  He 
might  have  fared  worse.  He  thought  himself  the  most 
fortunate  boy  in  the  country,  and  so  good  use  did  he 
make  of  these  standard  works  that  he  could  repeat  from 
memory  whole  chapters  of  the  Bible,  many  of  the  most 
striking  passages  of  Bunyan's  immortal  book,  and  every 
one  of  the  fables  of  ALsop. 

He  early  took  to  the  study  of  the  lives  and  characters 
of  eminent  men,  and  a  life  of  Henry  Clay,  which  his 
mother  had  managed  to  buy  for  him,  was  one  of  his 
choicest  treasures.  From  the  day  of  his  first  reading  the 
biography  of  the  great  Kentuckian,  Lincoln  dated  his 
undying  admiration  for  Henry  Clay.  Ramsay's  "  Life  of 
Washington  "  was  another  book  early  found  among  the 
settlers  and  devoured  with  a  book-hunger  most  pathetic. 
Hearing  of  another  life  of  Washington,  written  by  Weems, 
young  Lincoln  went  in  pursuit  of  it  and  joyfully  carried 
it  home  in  the  bosom  of  his  hunting  shirt.  Reading  this 
by  the  light  of  a  "  tallow-dip,"  or  home-made  candle,  un- 
til the  feeble  thing  had  burned  down  to  its  end,  Abraham 
tucked  the  precious  volume  into  a  chink  in  the  log-wall 
of  the  cabin  and  went  to  sleep.  A  driving  storm  came 
up  in  the  night,  and  the  book  was  soaked  through  and 
ruined  when  the  eager  boy  sought  for  it  in  the  early 
morning  light.  Here  was  a  great  misfortune  !  It  was  a 
borrowed  book,  and  honest  Abe  was  in  despair  over  its 
destruction  in  his  hands.  With  a  heavy  heart,  he  took 
it  back  to  its  owner.  Mr.  Crawford,  who  had  lent  it, 
looked  at  Abraham  with  an  assumed  severity,  and  asked 


PA  YING  FOR  'A    BOOK.  2J 

him  what  he  proposed  to  do  about  it.  The  lad  offered 
to  do  any  thing  that  Mr.  Crawford  thought  fair  and  just. 
A  settlement  was  made,  young  Abe  covenanting  to 
pull  "  fodder,"  or  corn-stalks,  for  three  days,  by  way  of 
settlement. 

"  And  does  that  pay  for  the  book,  or  for  the  damage 
done  to  it  ?  "  asked  the  shrewd  boy,  taking  his  first  lessons 
in  worldly  wisdom. 

"  Wai,  I  allow,"  said  the  kindly  owner  of  the  precious 
book,  "  that  it  won't  be  much  account  to  me  or  anybody 
else  now,  and  the  bargain  is  that  you  pull  fodder  three 
days,  and  the  book  is  yours." 

This  was  the  first  book  that  Abraham  Lincoln  ever 
earned  and  paid  for,  and,  discolored  and  blistered  though 
it  was,  it  was  to  him  of  value  incalculable.  He  laid  to  heart 
the  lessons  of  the  life  of  Washington,  and,  years  after, 
standing  near  the  battle-ground  of  Trenton,  and  recalling 
the  pages  of  the  book  hidden  in  the  crevices  of  the  log-cabin 
in  the  Indiana  wilderness,  he  said  :  "  I  remember  all  the 
accounts  there  given  of  the  battle-fields  and  the  struggles 
for  the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none  fixed  themselves 
so  deeply  as  the  struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 
I  recollect  thinking  then,  boy  even  though  I  was,  that 
there  must  have  been  something  more  than  common  that 
those  men  struggled  for." 

The  boy  had  begun  to  think  for  himself  when  he  was 
searching  for  an  explanation  of  the  fervor  and  determina- 
tion with  which  the  fathers  of  the  republic  endured  hard- 
ship and  manfully  plunged  into  the  desperate  struggle. 


28  THE  I.TFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

And  wheresoever  the  story  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  life 
shall  be  told,  this  account  of  his  first  precious  possession 
shall  be  also  narrated  for  a  memorial  of  him. 

It  is  an  odd  fact,  that  may  as  well  be  recorded  here, 
that  Lincoln,  as  boy  and  man,  almost  invariably  read 
aloud.  When  he  studied  it  helped  him,  he  said,  to  fix 
in  his  mind  the  matter  in  hand,  if,  while  it  passed  before 
his  eyes,  he  heard  his  own  voice  repeating  what  it  so 
much  desired  to  learn. 


CHAPTER  III. 

YOUNG   MANHOOD. 

Thomas  Lincoln's  Second  Marriage — Improvements  in  the  Backwoods 
Home — More  Books  for  the  Boy — His  Horizon  Enlarges — He  Learns 
to  be  Thorough — Down  the  Mississippi — A  Glimpse  of  Slavery — 
Coming  out  of  the  Wilderness. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1819,  Thomas  Lincoln  went  off  some- 
where into  Kentucky,  leaving  the  children  to  take 
care  of  themselves.  What  he  went  for,  and  where  he  went, 
the  youngsters  never  thought  of  asking.  But  in  December, 
early  one  morning,  they  heard  a  loud  halloo  from  the 
edge  of  the  forest ;  and,  dashing  to  the  door,  they  beheld 
the  amazing  sight  of  the  returning  traveller  perched  in  a 
four-horse  wagon,  a  pretty-looking  woman  by  his  side,  and 
a  stranger  driving  the  spanking  team.  Was  it  a  miracle  ? 
We  might  think  so  if  we  knew  Thomas  Lincoln  as  well  as 
his  son  did  afterwards  ;  for  Thomas  had  returned  with  a 
step-mother  for  his  little  ones.  He  had  married,  in  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Kentucky,  Mrs.  Sally  Johnston,  formerly  Miss 
Sally  Bush.  It  is  believed  that  to  Miss  Sally,  Thomas 
Lincoln  had  paid  court  before  he  married  her  who  was  the 
mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  She  had  been  known  to 
the  lad,  years  ago,  in  Kentucky;  and  now  that  she  had 

29 


JO  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

come  to  be  the  new  mother  to  Abe  and  his  sister,  they 
were  glad  to  see  her. 

The  gallant  four-horse  team  was  the  property  of  Ralph 
Krume,  who  had  married  Sally  Johnston's  sister;  and  in  the 
wagon  was  stored  what  seemed  to  these  children  of  the  wil- 
derness a  gorgeous  array  of  housekeeping  things.  There 
were  tables  and  chairs,  a  bureau  with  real  drawers  that 
pulled  out  and  disclosed  a  stock  of  clothing,  crockery  to 
replace  the  rude  tins  that  were  used  in  the  Lincoln  home- 
stead ;  bedding,  knives  and  forks,  and  numerous  things  that 
to  people  nowadays  are  thought  to  be  among  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  but  which  Nancy  Lincoln  had  been  com- 
pelled to  do  without.  By  what  magic  Thomas  Lincoln 
had  persuaded  this  thrifty  and  "  forehanded  "  widow  to 
leave  her  home  in  Kentucky  and  migrate  to  the  comfort- 
less wilderness  of  Indiana,  we  can  only  guess.  But  Thomas 
was  of  a  genial  and  even  jovial  disposition,  and  he  had 
allured  the  good  woman  to  come  and  save  his  motherless 
bairns  from  utter  destitution  and  neglect. 

The  new  Mrs.  Lincoln,  if  she  was  disappointed  in  the 
home  she  found  in  Indiana,  never  showed  her  disappoint- 
ment to  her  step-children.  She  took  hold  of  the  duties 
and  labors  of  the  day  with  a  cheerful  readiness  that  was 
long  and  gratefully  remembered  by  her  step-son,  at  least. 
They  were  good  friends  at  once.  Of  him  she  said,  years 
after  :  "  He  never  gave  me  a  cross  word  or  look,  and  never 
refused,  in  fact  or  appearance,  to  do  any  thing  I  requested 
of  him."  Of  her  he  said  :  "  She  was  a  noble  woman, 
affectionate,  good,  and  kind,  rather  above  the  average 


32  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

woman,  as  I  remember  women  in  those  days."  Mrs. 
Lincoln  brought  with  her  three  children  by  her  first  mar- 
riage, John,  Sarah,  and  Matilda  Johnston,  whose  ages 
were  not  far  from  those  of  the  three  children  found  in  the 
Lincoln  homestead.  The  log-cabin  was  full  to  overflow- 
ing. The  three  boys,  Abraham  Lincoln,  John  Johnston, 
and  Dennis  Hanks,  were  sent  to  the  loft  over  the  cabin  to 
sleep.  They  climbed  up  a  rude  ladder  built  against  the 
inner  side  of  the  log-house  :  and  their  bed,  a  mere  sack  of 
dry  corn-husks,  was  so  narrow,  that  when  one  turned  over, 
all  three  turned.  Nevertheless,  there  was  an  abundance 
of  covering  for  the  children,  all.  The  new  mother  had  at 
once  insisted  that  the  openings  in  the  cabin  should  be 
filled  with  glass  and  sashes  instead  of  loosely  hung  sheets 
of  muslin.  The  rickety  frame,  covered  with  split  shakes, 
that  had  served  as  a  door,  with  its  clumsy  wooden  hasp, 
was  taken  away,  and  "  a  battened  door  "  of  matched  boards, 
with  a  wooden  latch  of  domestic  make,  replaced  it.  Mats 
of  deerskin  were  put  down  on  the  puncheon  floor,  and  an 
aspect  of  comfort,  even  luxury,  was  spread  around.  It 
seems  to  have  been  an  harmonious  household.  If  there 
were  any  family  jars,  history  makes  no  mention  of  them. 
And  we  must  remember  that  that  history  has  come  down 
to  us  in  the  reports  of  two  of  those  who  were  most  in- 
terested in  the  household,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  step- 
mother. 

About  this  time,  young  Abe  made  the  acquaintance  of 
a  new  source  of  pleasure,  James  Fenimore  Cooper's 
"  Leather-Stocking  Tales,"  then  novelties  in  the  literature 


34  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  the  United  States.  Over  these  he  hung  with  rapturous 
delight.  He  had  seen  something  of  the  fast-receding  In- 
dian of  the  American  forests ;  and  he  had  heard,  many 
a  time,  of  his  father's  thrilling  escape  from  the  red 
man's  clutches,  and  of  his  grandfather's  cruel  death  in  the 
Kentucky  "  clearing  " ;  and  when  he  withdrew  his  fasci- 
nated attention  from  the  vivid  pages  of  Cooper's  novel,  he 
almost  expected  to  see  the  painted  savages  lurking  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  forest  so  near  at  hand.  Another  book, 
borrowed  from  one  of  the  few  and  distant  neighbors,  was 
Burns'  Poems,  a  thick  and  chunky  volume,  as  he  after- 
wards described  it,  bound  in  leather  and  printed  in  very 
small  type.  This  book  he  kept  long  enough  to  commit  to 
memory  almost  all  its  contents.  And  ever  after,  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  some  of  the  familiar  lines  of  the  Scottish 
poet  were  as  ready  on  his  lips  as  those  of  Shakespeare,  the 
only  poet  who  was,  in  Lincoln's  opinion,  greater  than 
Robert  Burns. 

His  step-mother  said  of  him  :  "  He  read  every  thing  he 
could  lay  his  hands  on,  and  when  he  came  across  a 
passage  that  struck  him,  he  would  write  it  down  on 
boards,  if  he  had  no  paper,  and  keep  it  by  him  until  he 
could  get  paper.  Then  he  would  copy  it,  look  at  it, 
commit  it  to  memory,  and  repeat  it."  In  this  way,  he  col- 
lected a  great  many  things  from  books  that  he  did  not 
own  and  could  not  keep.  We  have  heard  of  writers  and 
scholars  who  make  a  commonplace  book  in  which  may 
be  recorded  things  noteworthy  and  memorable.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  at  the  age  of  ten,  kept  such  a  book.  It 


GOING  TO   SCHOOL.  35 

was  first  written  on  wooden  "  shakes "  with  charcoal. 
Transferred  to  paper  with  pen  and  ink,  and  repeated  often, 
the  noble  thoughts  and  melodious  lines  of  famous  men 
had  already  become  a  part  of  the  education  of  the  Presi- 
dent that  was  to  be. 

But  although  young  Lincoln  devoured  books  with  a 
hunger  that  was  almost  pathetic,  and  sorely  tried  his  eyes 
with  study  by  the  light  of  blazing  pine-knots  on  the 
hearth,  he  was  no  milksop,  no  weakly  bookworm.  In 
the  athletic  sports  of  the  time,  and  in  the  manual  dex- 
terity so  helpful  in  those  frontier  pursuits,  he  was  the 
master  of  every  other  boy  of  his  age.  He  had  learned 
the  use  of  tools,  could  swing  the  maul  and  chip  out 
"  shakes  "  and  shingles,  lay  open  rails  and  handle  logs  as 
well  as  most  men.  Although  not  a  quarrelsome  boy,  he 
could  "  throw  "  any  of  his  weight  and  years  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  far  and  near  "  Abe  Lincoln "  was  early 
known  as  a  capital  wrestler  and  a  tough  champion  at  every 
game  of  muscular  skill. 

School  and  its  coveted  facilities  for  getting  knowledge 
was  now  within  reach.  Hazel  Dorsey  was  the  name  of 
the  new  schoolmaster  on  Little  Pigeon  Creek,  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  Lincoln  homestead ;  and  thither  was  sent 
the  brood  of  young  ones  belonging  to  the  Lincoln  family. 
These  backwoods  children  had  the  unusual  luxury  of  go- 
ing all  together  to  a  genuine  school.  True  the  school- 
house  was  built  of  logs;  but  all  the  youngsters  of  the 
school  came  from  log-cabins  ;  and  even  the  new  meeting- 
house, which  was  an  imposing  affair  for  those  woods,  was 


36  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

log-built  up  to  the  gables,  and  thence  finished  out  with  the 
first  sawn  lumber  ever  used  to  any  considerable  extent  in 
the  region. 

Young  Abraham  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities, 
and  when  he  found  the  days  too  short  for  his  school  stud- 
ies and  his  tasks  about  the  farm,  he  sat  up  by  the  fire  of 
"  lightwood  "  late  into  the  night.  What  dreams  had  come 
to  him  in  those  far-off  days?  Did  he  begin  to  think  that 
he  might  "  be  somebody "  in  the  great  and  busy  world 
of  which  he  had  heard  faint  echoes?  It  would  seem- 
likely.  Following  the  plow,  or  whirling  the  mighty  maul, 
as  he  wrought  at  splitting  rails,  he  pondered  deeply  the 
lessons  that  he  had  learned  at  school  and  from  the  few 
books  at  his  command.  When  he  was  a  grown  man,  it  fell 
to  his  lot  to  pronounce  a  eulogy  on  Henry  Clay,  whom 
he  had  learned  to  idolize  in  his  youth ;  and  the  growing 
young  statesman  said  of  Clay,  among  other  things:  "  His 
example  teaches  us  that  one  can  scarcely  be  so  poor  but 
that,  if  he  will,  he  can  acquire  sufficient  education  to  get 
through  the  world  respectably."  If  the  example  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  the  admirer  and  eulogist  of  Henry  Clay, 
teaches  any  thing  to  the  boys  of  this  generation,  it  teaches 
just  what  he  said  of  Henry  Clay's  life.  As  his  mental 
vision  widened,  there  was  nothing  too  abstruse  for  Lincoln 
to  grapple  with,  nothing  so  far  out  of  the  knowledge  of 
those  about  him  that  he  could  not  take  it  up.  Algebra, 
Euclid,  Latin,  came  later  on  in  life ;  but  even  in  his  early 
youth,  hearing  of  these,  he  resolved  to  master  them  as 
soon  as  he  could  get  the  needed  books. 


LINCOLN  ATTENDS  COURT.  37 

Through  all  the  wide  neighborhood,  Abe  Lincoln  was 
known  as  an  honest,  laborious,  and  helpful  lad.  Coming 
home  one  night,  when  the  early  winter  frosts  were  sharp 
and  nipping,  he  and  a  comrade  found  by  the  roadside  the 
horse  of  one  of  the  settlers  who  was  a  notorious  drunk- 
ard. There  had  been  a  house-raising  in  the  vicinity,  and 
the  rider,  overcome  with  the  strong  drink  too  common 
on  those  semi-festive  occasions,  had  probably  fallen  off 
and  been  left  by  his  steed,  while  passing  though  the 
woods.  Young  Lincoln  was  for  hunting'  up  the  missing 
man.  "O  come  along  home,"  said  his  companion; 
"  what  business  is  it  of  yours  if  he  does  get  lost  ?  " 

"  But  he  will  freeze  to  death,  if  he  is  left  on  the  trail 
this  cold  night." 

The  kind-hearted  young  fellow,  hater  though  he  was  of 
the  stuff  that  had  laid  low  his  neighbor,  was  too  com- 
passionate to  leave  its  victim  to  freeze.  He  found  the 
man,  took  him,  all  unconscious  as  he  was,  on  his  own  stal- 
wart back,  and  actually  carried  him  eighty  rods  to  the 
nearest  house,  where,  after  sending  word  to  his  father  that 
he  must  stay  out  all  night,  he  sat  by  the  half-frozen  man 
and  brought  him  back  to  consciousness  and  restored  fac- 
ulties. He  saved  the  life  of  the  sinner  while  he  hated 
the  sin. 

Before  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  he  attended  court 
in  Boonville,  the  county-seat  of  Warrick,  where  a  man 
was  on  trial  for  murder.  It  was  his  first  look  into  what 
seemed  to  him  the  great  world  outside  the  wilderness. 
An  accident  led  him  into  the  vicinity,  and,  hearing  that 


38  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

one  of  the  famous  Breckinridges  of  Kentucky  was  to 
speak  for  the  defence,  he  went  on  to  Boonville,  and,  open- 
mouthed  with  wonder,  heard  the  first  great  speech  of  his 
life.  He  could  not  restrain  his  admiration,  and  when  the 
arguments  were  over  and  the  case  had  gone  to  the  jury 
and  the  eminent  lawyer,  flushed  with  conscious  pride,  was 
passing  out  of  the  court-house,  he  was  intercepted  by  a 
tall,  overgrown  youth,  exceedingly  awkward,  horny-handed 
and  evidently  of  the  "  poor  white  "  class.  The  youth, 
his  face  shining  with  honest  enthusiasm,  held  out  his 
brown  hand  to  the  well-dressed  lawyer,  and  told  him  how 
much  he  had  enjoyed  his  wonderful  speech.  The  aristo- 
cratic Breckinridge  stared  with  surprise  at  the  intrusive 
stranger,  and  haughtily  brushed  by  the  future  President 
of  the  United  States.  This  was  not  the  boy's  first  lesson 
in  social  distinctions,  but  it  was  his  first  lesson  in  oratory; 
and  he  was  just  as  grateful  to  Breckinridge  as  he  would 
have  been  if  the  great  man  had  been  as  gracious  then  as 
he  was  years  after,  when  he  was  reminded  by  the  Presi- 
dent, in  Washington,  of  an  incident  in  Boonville  which 
the  Breckinridge  had  forgotten  and  the  Lincoln  could 
hot  forget. 

From  that  time,  young  Lincoln  practised  speech-mak- 
ing. He  took  up  any  topic  that  happened  to  be  upper- 
most in  the  rural  neighborhood — a  question  of  roads,  or 
trails,  the  school-tax,  a  bounty  on  wolves  or  bears,  offered 
by  the  Legislature,  or  any  kindred  question  of  the  day  ; 
or  he  got  up  mock  trials,  arraigned  imaginary  culprits, 
and,  himself,  acted  as  prosecuting  attorney,  counsel  for 


SPEAKING  AND   STUDYING.  39 

the  defendant,  judge,  and  foreman  of  the  jury,  making 
their  appropriate  addresses  in  due  course.  He  threw  him- 
self into  these  debates  with  so  much  ardor  that  his  father 
was  obliged  to  interfere  and  forbid  the  speeches  during 
hours  for  work.  The  old  man  grumbled  :  "  When  Abe 
begins  to  speak,  all  hands  flock  to  hear  him." 

One  notable  thing  about  this  young  man  was  that  when 
he  begun  to  study  any  thing,  he  was  not  satisfied  until  he 
got  to  the  bottom  of  it.  He  went  to  the  roots  of  things. 
He  wrote  and  re-wrote  all  that  he  wanted  to  commit  to 
memory.  He  could  not  give  up  any  difficult  problem. 
He  kept  at  it  until  he  had  mastered  it  ;  and  in  a  commu- 
nity that  was  pretty  dark  in  all  matters  of  book-learning 
he  seldom  had  any  help  outside  of  his  book.  He  found 
time,  now  and  again,  of  an  evening,  to  lounge  with  the 
other  young  fellows  in  the  country  store  at  the  cross- 
roads, and,  beardless  youngster  though  he  was,  he  de- 
lighted the  rude  backwoodsmen  and  settlers  with  his 
homely  wit  and  wisdom.  He  was  accounted  as  being 
deeply  learned,  too,  in  that  benighted  region.  Great 
things  were  prophesied  of  the  lad. 

Never  neglecting  any  task  on  the  farm,  never  shirking 
any  duty  however  unwelcome,  young  Lincoln  studied 
almost  incessantly.  One  of  the  companions  of  his  boy- 
hood, Dennis  Hanks,  said  of  him  :  "  He  was  always  read- 
ing, writing,  cyphering,  and  writing  poetry."  In  a  won- 
derfully strange  school,  God  was  training  the  President 
that  should  be. 

There  is  in  existence  a  manuscript  book  of  Lincoln's, 


4O  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

begun  when  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  and  contain- 
ing various  mathematical  problems  under  the  title  of 
"  Book  of  Examples  in  Arithmetic."  One  of  these,  dated 
March  I,  1826,  is  headed  "  Discount,"  and  is  divided  as 
follows:  "A  Definition  of  Discount,"  "Rules  for  its 
Computation,"  and  "  Proofs  and  Various  Examples,"  all 
worked  out  in  neat  and  correct  figures.  Following  this  is 
"  Interest  on  Money."  And  all  this  was  carefully  kept 
for  ready  reference  by  the  boy  who  was  busily  studying 
how  to  be  master  of  every  thing  he  attempted  to  learn. 
When  he  was  President,  somebody  came  to  him  with  a 
story  about  a  plot  to  accomplish  some  mischief  in  the 
government.  Lincoln  listened  to  what  was  a  very  super- 
ficial and  ill-informed  story,  and  then  said :  "There  is  one 
thing  that  I  have  learned  and  you  have  n't.  It  is  only  one 
word — '  thorough.'  '  Then  bringing  his  hand  down  on 
the  table  with  a  thump  to  emphasize  his  meaning,  he 
added,  "Thorough !  " 

We  know  now  where  Abraham  Lincoln  learned  to  be 
thorough.  It  was  when  he  was  building  his  character. 

It  was  about  this  time,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old, 
that  he  conceived  the  mighty  pl'an  of  building  a  boat  and 
taking  down  the  river  some  of  the  products  of  the  home 
farm.  He  had  had  furtive  glimpses  of  the  busy  life  out- 
side the  woods  of  Southern  Indiana,  and  he  longed  for  a 
closer  look  at  it.  The  little  craft  was  built,  chiefly  by  his 
own  hands,  and,  loaded  with  bacon,  "  garden  truck,"  and 
such  odds  and  ends  as  were  thought  available  for  market, 
was  paddled  down  stream  to  the  nearest  trading-post. 


EXAMPLES    IN    ARITHMETIC. 


42  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

We  have  no  record  of  the  result  of  the  voyage,  except 
that  it  was  on  this  momentous  occasion  that  young 
Lincoln  felt  the  greed  of  money  waked  within  him. 
Never  avaricious,  never  stingy,  Lincoln  was  so  trained  to 
habits  of  frugality  that  he  always,  to  use  a  common  ex- 
pression, "  looked  twice  at  a  dollar  before  parting  with  it." 
Loitering  on  the  river  bank,  after  he  had  sold  his  little 
cargo,  he  saw  what  was  to  him  then  an  unusual  sight,  a 
steamer  coming  down  the  river.  Two  men  came  to  the 
river's  edge  seeking  a  boat  to  take  them  to  the  approach- 
ing steamboat.  In  all  the  throng  of  small  craft,  they 
singled  out  Lincoln's.  Without  waiting  to  strike  a  bar- 
gain, he  sculled  the  two  passengers  and  their  trunks  out 
to  the  boat,  and  when  he  had  put  them  on  board  with 
their  luggage,  what  was  his  astonishment  to  find  in  his 
hand,  as  his  fee,  two  silver  half-dollars ! 

"  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes,"  he  said,  when  tell- 
ing this  adventure,  years  afterward,  to  Secretary  Seward. 
"  You  may  think  it  a  very  little  thing  ;  but  it  was  the 
most  important  incident  in  my  life.  I  could  scarcely  be- 
lieve that  I,  a  poor  boy,  had  earned  a  dollar  in  less  than  a 
day.  The  world  seemed  wider  and  fairer  before  me.  I 
was  a  more  hopeful  and  confident  being  from  that  time." 

The  boy  was  waking  to  the  possibilities  of  manhood. 
The  two  shining  silver  coins,  honestly  earned,  lying  in  his 
palm,  were  tokens  of  what  might  come  hereafter  to  well- 
directed  labor. 

It  was  one  year  later,  when  Lincoln  was  nineteen  years 
old,  that  he  made  his  second  voyage.  This  was  a  great 


44  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

event  in  the  young  backwoodsman's  career.  Mr.  Gentry, 
the  owner  of  the  neighborhood  store,  looking  about  him 
for  a  trustworthy  man  to  take  a  flat-boat,  or  "  broad-horn," 
to  New  Orleans  with  a  cargo  of  produce,  could  think  of 
nobody  so  safe  as  young  Lincoln.  Abraham  had  not  been 
much  away  from  home,  had  no  familiarity  with  business  or 
with  river  navigation,  and  had  never  even  seen  the  Lower 
Mississippi.  But  the  trader  knew  his  man,  and  an  offer  to 
Lincoln,  placing  him  in  full  charge  of  the  venture,  was 
accepted,  as  he  afterwards  said,  with  a  beating  heart.  His 
good-fortune  seemed  wonderful.  It  was  not  the  money 
to  be  made  that  young  Abraham  was  thinking  of ;  it  was 
the  delight  of  seeing  the  world.  And  when  Lincoln  and 
his  companion,  young  Allen  Gentry,  cut  loose  from  Gentry  - 
ville  and  slowly  drifted  down  Little  Pigeon  Creek  into  the 
Ohio,  on  a  voyage  of  eighteen  hundred  miles,  not  Colum- 
bus sailing  forth  into  unknown  seas,  nor  the  master  of  the 
first  steamship  that  ploughed  the  Atlantic,  could  have 
been  more  impressed  with  the  mightiness  of  the  prospect 
before  him,  than  the  backwoods  boy  on  his  first  expedition 
from  the  forests  of  Southern  Indiana. 

It  was  a  momentous  trip,  but  solely  because  it  opened 
a  new  field  to  the  wide-open  eyes  of  the  youthful  voyagers. 
As  they  descended  the  mighty  Father  of  Waters,  then 
flowing  unvexed  to  the  sea,  plantations  began  to  dot  the 
landscape.  Here  and  there  friendly  or  inquisitive  settlers 
came  down  to  the  bank  to  ask  them  about  their  "  load," 
as  a  cargo  is  called  on  the  Western  waters.  Or,  when 
they  made  fast  to  the  most  convenient  tree  at  nightfall,  a 


DOWN  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  45 

far-wandering  hunter  came  to  share  "  pot-luck  "  and  the 
gossip  of  the  region  with  the  youthful  adventurers.  In 
this  way,  they  picked  up  a  store  of  information,  useful  and 
otherwise,  and  many  a  queer  tale  of  frontier  and  settler's 
life,  which,  at  least  one  of  the  party  held  fast  ever  after  in 
his  tenacious  memory.  Now  and  again,  too,  they  passed, 
or  were  passed  by,  other  flat-boats,  and  much  rude  chaf- 
fing and  hailing  in  outlandish  slang  went  on  from  boat  to 
boat. 

One  incident,  however,  was  more  exciting  and  danger- 
ous than  the  fresh-water  navigators  had  bargained  for. 
Tied  up  to  a  bank  at  night,  as  was  their  custom,  the  twain 
slept  soundly  after  their  day  of  toil,  when  they  were 
waked  by  a  scrambling  near  at  hand.  Springing  to  his 
feet,  Abraham  shouted,  "  Who  's  there?"  There  was  no 
reply,  and,  seizing  a  handspike,  he  made  ready  for  an  at- 
tack. Seven  negroes,  evidently  on  an  errand  of  plunder, 
now  appeared.  Abe  held  himself  ready  to  "  repel  board- 
ers," and  the  first  man  that  jumped  on  board  was  received 
with  a  heavy  blow  that  knocked  him  into  the  water.  A 
second,  a  third,  and  a  fourth,  essaying  the  same  thing, 
were  similarly  received.  The  other  three,  seeing  that 
they  were  no  match  for  the  tall  backwoodsman  and  his 
ally,  took  to  their  heels,  pursued  by  Abe  and  Allen. 
Overtaking  the  negroes,  a  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued,  but 
the  thieves  finally  fled  again,  leaving  on  the  future  Presi- 
dent a  scar  that  he  carried  to  his  grave. 

The  voyage  to  the  Lower  Mississippi  and  return  occu- 
pied three  months.  The  cargo  was  sold  to  good  advantage 


46  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

before  reaching  New  Orleans.  Then  the  empty  boat 
being  disposed  of,  for  it  would  not  pay  to  take  it  home 
up-stream,  the  two  adventurers,  elated  with  their  first 
notable  success,  made  their  way  homeward  by  steamboat. 
They  had  seen  a  bit  of  the  great  world.  And  Abraham 
Lincoln  had  seen  what  he  never  forgot,  his  first  close 
view  of  human  slavery.  Slaves  toiling  on  the  plantations, 
slaves  bending  beneath  their  tasks  on  the  levees  of  the 
river  towns,  and,  what  was  more  memorable  than  all, 
slaves  in  squads  and  coffles,  torn  from  old  homes  and 
families  far  away,  bound  up  the  river  on  the  steamboats 
that  were  now  frequent  on  the  busy  Mississippi.  He 
who  was  to  be  known  through  all  coming  time  as  The 
Emancipator,  had  made  his  first  study  of  his  fellow-man 
in  hopeless  bondage. 

It  is  well  to  consider  here  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  up 
to  this  point,  was  what  is  called  a  self-made  man  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  that  word.  What  he  had  learned,  he 
had  learned  of  himself.  What  he  knew,  he  knew  with 
absolute  accuracy.  Self-taught  and  self-dependent,  he 
had  all  his  resources,  mental,  moral,  and  physical,  well 
in  hand.  So  self-reliant  and  yet,  withal,  so  modest  and 
diffident  a  character  was  probably  never  known  before. 
Growing  up  in  the  almost  trackless  forest,  he  had  ab- 
sorbed the  influences  of  the  wild-wood.  He  had  been 
held  close  to  nature,  had  had  as  much  time  for  solitary 
meditation  as  was  wholesome  for  him  ;  and  he  had  never 
been  for  an  hour  dependent  on  other  people,  or  on 
other  than  the  humblest  means,  for  intellectual  stim- 


SOCIAL    SPORTS.  47 

ulus.  Such  as  he  was,  it  may  be  said,  God  had  made  and 
nurtured  him  in  the  wilderness.  The  man  that  was  within 
him  was  thoroughly  original.  He  was  not  a  copy  of  any 
man,  nor  the  imitator  of  any  human  being. 

Henceforth  he  was  not  to  be  hidden  in  the  backwoods. 
The  backwoods,  indeed,  had  begun  to  recede  before  the 
onward  march  of  civilization.  Immigration  was  streaming 
into  Indiana.  It'could  be  no  longer  said  of  the  settlers 
along  Pigeon  Creek  that  they  were  so  far  apart  that  the 
smoke  of  one  fireside  could  not  be  seen  from  the  next 
nearest.  There  were  neighborhoods  almost  populous ; 
and  with  these  came  social  sports  and  occasional  visitings, 
house-raisings,  husking-bees,  Sabbath  worship,  and  some- 
thing like  a  neighborly  intimacy.  In  these  changes  the 
stalwart  young  pioneer,  now  six  feet  four  inches  tall,  cut 
no  mean  figure.  He  could  outrun  and  outwalk  any  one 
of  his  comrades,  and,  as  has  been  said  by  those  who  knew 
him  then,  "  he  could  strike  the  hardest  blow  with  axe  or 
maul,  jump  higher  and  farther  than  any  of  his  fellows, 
and  there  was  no  one,  far  or  near,  that  could  lay  him  on 
his  back." 

These  accomplishments,  we  may  be  sure,  counted  for 
much  in  a  community  where  physical  endurance  and  mus- 
cular strength  were  needed  for  every  day's  duties.  But 
the  honest-eyed  and  kindly  youth,  strong  though  he  was, 
had  a  gentle  manner  that  endeared  him  to  everybody 
that  came  in  contact  with  him.  He  had  a  wonderful 
power  of  narration.  The  fables  of  ^Lsop  were  new  as 
they  fell  from  his  lips.  A  grotesque  incident,  a  comical 


48  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

story,  or  one  of  the  frontier  traditions  learned  from  his 
mother,  was  a  dramatic  entertainment  in  his  hands.  He 
kept  his  audiences  at  the  country  store  until  midnight, 
says  one  of  his  comrades,  listening  to  his  shrewd  wisdom, 
native  wit,  and  vivid  recitals.  Poor  Dennis  Hanks,  weary 
and  sleepy,  was  often  obliged  to  trudge  home  without 
him,  after  vainly  trying  to  coax  the  eloquent  and  fasci- 
nating story-teller  from  the  group  of  which  he  was  the 
admired  centre. 

Unconsciously  to  himself,  this  simple-hearted  and  hum- 
ble-minded young  man  was  absorbing  into  his  own  experi- 
ence the  rude  lore  of  the  backwoodsman.  He  was  study- 
ing character,  filling  his  mind  with  facts  and  experiences ; 
and,  in  after  years,  in  other  scenes  and  in  a  far  busier  life 
than  this,  the  fresh  and  original  pictures  that  he  sketched 
in  speech  or  story,  came  from  the  panorama  of  human 
action  unrolled  before  him  in  old  Kentucky  and  South- 
ern Indiana. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    LINCOLNS   IN   ILLINOIS. 

The  Land  of  Full-Grown  Men — Lincoln  Attains  His  Majority — Strik- 
ing Out  for  Himself — Another  River  Voyage — An  Odd  Introduction 
to  New  Salem — Some  Rough  and  Tumble  Discipline — The  Back- 
woodsman Conquers  Friends — He  Vanquishes  English  Grammar. 

ONCE  more  the  Lincoln  family  "  pulled  up  stakes  " 
and  moved  westward.  This  time  it  was  to  Illinois, 
which,  in  the  Indian  vernacular,  signifies  "  the  land  of  the 
full-grown  men,"  that  the  easily -entreated  Thomas  Lincoln 
went.  Thomas  Hanks,  one  of  the  most  steady  and  well- 
balanced  of  this  somewhat  erratic  group  of  people,  had 
gone  to  Macon  County,  Illinois,  in  the  autumn  of  1829. 
He  had  been  so  favorably  impressed  with  what  he  saw 
and  heard  that  he  had  written  to  Thomas  Lincoln  to 
come  on  and  bring  the  family.  It  does  not  appear  to 
have  required  much  persuasion  ever  to  induce  Thomas 
Lincoln  to  change  his  place.  He  had  made  no  progress 
in  Indiana  beyond  providing  for  their  actual  wants.  He 
could  do  no  worse  in  Illinois,  accounts  of  which  as  a  land 
literally  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  were  already  spread- 
ing over  the  older  States.  So,  in  the  spring  of  1830,  as 
soon  as  the  frost  was  out  of  the  ground,  Lincoln,  having 
sold  crops,  hogs,  and  farm  improvements  to  Mr.  Gentry, 

49 


5O  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

packed  all  his  remaining  earthly  possessions,  and  those  of 
his  sons-in-law,  into  a  wagon  and  set  his  face  westward. 

The  migrating  family  was  as  follows :  Thomas  Lincoln 
and  Sarah,  his  wife  ;  his  only  son,  Abraham,  John  John- 
ston, Mrs.  Lincoln's  son ;  Mrs.  Hall  and  Mrs.  Hanks, 
daughters  of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  their  husbands.  Sarah 
Lincoln,  Abraham's  sister,  had  married  Aaron  Grigsby,  a 
few  years  before,  and  had  died  recently.  These  eight 
people  took  their  weary  way  across  the  fat  and  oozy 
prairies,  black  with  rich  loam,  bound  for  the  new  land  of 
Canaan.  Two  weeks  of  tiresome  travel  were  consumed  in 
reaching  the  place  selected  for  them  on  the  public  lands 
near  the  village  of  Decatur,  Macon  County,  by  Thomas 
Hanks.  The  entire  "  outfit,"  consisting  of  one  wagon 
drawn  by  four  yoke  of  oxen,  driven  by  Abraham  Lincoln, 
came  to  anchor  as  it  were,  on  a  patch  of  bottom-land 
hitherto  untouched  by  the  hand  of  man.  Young  Lincoln 
had  settled  finally  in  the  State  that  in  years  to  come 
was  to  borrow  new  lustre  from  his  name.  Undreaming 
of  future  greatness,  the  stalwart  young  fellow  lent  a  hand 
in  the  raising  of  the  cabin  that  was  to  be  the  home  of  the 
family.  And  when  this  work  was  done  and  the  immi- 
grants were  securely  under  cover,  he  and  Thomas  Hanks 
plowed  fifteen  acres  of  the  virgin  soil,  cut  down  and  split 
into  rails  sundry  walnut  logs  of  the  adjacent  forest,  worked 
out  rails,  and  fenced  his  father's  first  Illinois  farm. 

Now  it  was  time  for  young  Abraham  to  strike  out  for 
himself.  He  had  thought  of  doing  that  before,  but  had 
been  reminded  that  he  was  a  servant  to  his  father  until  he 


THE  WINTER  OF  THE  DEEP  SNOW.       5 1 

was  twenty-one  years  old.  He  was  now  in  his  twenty- 
second  year,  able  and  anxious  to  make  his  own  living. 
During  the  summer  of  1830,  he  worked  at  odd  jobs  in  the 
neighborhood,  always  alert  and  cheerful,  ready  to  turn  his 
hand  to  any  honest  bit  of  work,  and  soon  growing  in 
favor  with  the  rude  and  simple  pioneers  of  Southern 
Illinois.  They  were  shrewd  at  making  a  bargain,  neces- 
sarily compelled  to  be  chary  with  their  little  hard-earned 
cash,  greatly  given  to  trade  and  barter,  ingenious  with 
every  known  implement  of  the  rudest  sort  of  labor,  free 
from  fear  of  theft  or  malicious  violence,  and  fond  of  roys- 
tering  and  the  rough  sports  of  the  frontier.  As  in  all  new 
countries,  game  was  abundant,  and,  although  the  days 
when  skins  were  made  into  garments  had  passed,  hunting 
still  supplied  many  a  family  with  the  staple  articles  of  diet. 
The  flesh  of  wild  beasts  and  birds  was  supplemented  by 
the  slab-like  sides  of  smoked  pork,  and  the  corn  that 
grew  thickly  in  the  unctuous  fields  of  the  new-comers 
furnished  bread  for  the  eater  and  seed  for  the  sower. 

In  scenes  like  these  Abraham  Lincoln  now  grew  to 
man's  estate.  The  tall  young  fellow  speedily  made  a 
name  for  himself  as  one  of  the  most  obliging,  ungainly, 
strong,  long-legged,  and  cheery  fellows  in  the  Sangamon 
country.  It  was  not  until  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow 
that  Lincoln  undertook  any  scheme  other  than  the  desul- 
tory employment  that  he  found  among  the  farmers  from 
day  to  day.  "  The  winter  of  the  deep  snow  "  was  that  of 
1830-1.  This  is  unto  this  day  a  memorable  period  of 
time  in  Central  Illinois.  It  marks  an  historical  epoch  as 


52  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

distinct  as  the  great  fire  did  in  London,  years  before. 
The  snowfall  began  on  Christmas  day.  It  continued 
until  the  snow  was  three  feet  deep  on  a  level.  Then  came 
a  drizzling  rain  that  froze  as  it  fell,  the  thermometer  sink- 
ing to  twelve  degrees  below  zero.  The  intense  cold,  the 
difficulty  of  getting  about,  made  that  winter  famous  for- 
ever after  in  the  annals  of  the  country.  Herds  of  deer 
were  easily  caught  and  killed,  imprisoned  as  they  were  in 
the  icy  crust  that  broke  beneath  their  sharp  feet.  Game 
of  all  kinds  was  slaughtered  by  the  thousands  of  head  by 
the  hungry  settlers,  as  they  came  out  of  their  scattered 
villages  in  search  of  food,  and  from  that  day,  large  game 
never  again  was  so  plenty  in  the  State.  Roads  were 
finally  broken  from  cabin  to  cabin  and  from  hamlet  to 
hamlet  by  "  wallowing,"  as  it  was  called,  the  entire  popu- 
lation, men,  women,  children,  dogs,  oxen,  and  horses,  turn- 
ing out  en  masse  and  trampling  down  and  kicking  out  the 
snow.  Long  after  ploughing  had  begun,  next  spring,  the 
muddy-white  foundations  of  these  rural  roads  remained, 
unmelted,  to  stretch  across  the  black  soil  of  the  prairies. 
During  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  young  Lincoln 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Denton  OfTutt,  a  small  trader 
of  the  region.  Hearing  that  Lincoln  and  Hanks  were 
"  likely  young  fellows,"  Offutt  proposed  that  they  should 
take  a  boat-load  of  provisions  to  New  Orleans  for  him. 
The  boys  were  right  glad  to  take  such  an  offer,  especially 
as  Offutt  agreed  to  "  find  "  them — that  is  to  say,  to  furnish 
their  food — and  to  pay  them  fifty  cents  a  day,  and,  if  the 
venture  was  successful,  to  give  them  a  further  reward  of 


A    RIVER  DISASTER.  53 

twenty  dollars  each.  This  was  great  prospective  riches 
to  the  youngsters,  neither  of  whom  had  ever  had  so  much 
money  at  one  time.  John  Johnston,  Abraham's  foster- 
brother,  was  added  to  the  crew,  and,  having  built  their 
flat-boat,  the  party,  Offutt,  Abraham  Lincoln,  John 
Hanks,  and  John  Johnston,  embarked  on  the  roaring, 
raging  Sangamon  at  Springfield.  Although  the  river  was, 
to  use  a  current  Western  expression,  booming  with  the 
spring  freshets,  when  the  frail  craft  reached  New  Salem, 
a  mushroom  village  not  far  below  the  point  of  departure, 
it  stuck  on  a  milldam,  and  there  it  stuck  and  hung,  appar- 
ently hopeless  of  ever  getting  off.  The  population  of 
New  Salem  came  down  to  the  river's  margin,  commented 
on  the  disaster,  chaffed  and  hectored  the  shipwrecked 
mariners,  and  generally  made  merry  over  the  affair,  to  the 
annoyance  of  the  owner.  But  "  the  bow  oar,"  a  giant,  as 
the  shore  people  thought  him,  rolled  up  his  trowsers, 
waded  into  the  stream,  unloaded  the  barge,  whose  nose 
was  well  out  of  water  while  her  stern  was  well  under  it, 
bored  holes  to  let  out  the  flood,  and  rigged  up  a  contriv- 
ance to  hoist  the  boat  over  the  dam.  This  done,  the  craft 
was  again  loaded,  the  holes  being  plugged,  and,  amidst 
the  cheers  of  the  critical  population,  the  voyagers  shot 
down  stream  on  their  rejoicing  way.  Years  after,  when 
Lincoln  was  a  practising  lawyer,  he  whittled  out  a  model 
of  his  invention  for  hoisting  vessels  over  shoals  and  had 
it  patented  in  Washington.  The  curious  visitor  to  the 
Patent  Office  in  the  national  capital  is  shown  to-day  a 
little  wooden  boat  and  an  odd  combination  of  strips  and 


54  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

bars  by  which,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  afterwards  said,  a  man 
might  lift  himself  over  a  rail-fence  by  the  waistband  of 
his  breeches. 

The  adventurers  had  a  swift  and  prosperous  voyage  down 
the  river  to  New  Orleans.  This  was  Lincoln's  second 
visit  to  the  land  of  slavery.  He  saw  more  of  the  peculiar 
institution  than  before.  He  saw  men  and  women,  whipped, 
bought,  and  sold,  families  separated,  children  torn  from 
their  parents  and  wives  from  their  husbands,  without  any 
sign  of  compunction  on  the  part  of  buyers,  sellers,  and 
owners.  It  was  a  thrilling  sight  to  the  young  pioneer  of 
the  West.  In  later  years,  John  Hanks  said :  "  Lincoln 
saw  it ;  his  heart  bled ;  said  nothing  much,  was  silent, 
looked  bad.  I  can  say  it,  knowing  him,  that  it  was  on  this 
trip  that  he  formed  his  opinions  of  slavery.  It  run  its 
iron  into  him  then  and  there,  May,  1831." 

There  is  a  tradition  that  it  was  during  this  visit  to  Louisi- 
ana that  Lincoln  met  an  aged  negress  who  pretended  to  be  a 
Voudoo  seeress,  or  fortune-teller,  and  that  she  said  to 
him :  "  You  will  be  President,  and  all  the  negroes  will  be 
free."  This  is  not  authenticated.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  seeress  had  said  that  same  thing  to  a  great  many 
young  men.  We  do  know  that  Lincoln  was  always  super- 
stitious. He  was  brought  up  to  regard  signs  and  wonders, 
dreams  and  fortune-tellings.  If  he  did  hear  this  from  the 
Voudoo  woman,  he  would  be  sure  to  remember  it  all  his 
days.  And  he  never  spoke  of  it  to  his  most  intimate 
friends  in  later  years. 

On  his  return  from  New  Orleans,  so  well  had  Lincoln 


56  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

commended  himself  to  Offutt,  that  that  worthy  man  en- 
gaged him  to  take  charge  of  a  small  country  store  which 
he  had  opened  at  New  Salem,  and  the  little  community 
that  had  witnessed  the  struggle  and  triumph  of  the  long 
legged  young  giant  on  Rutledge's  dam  now  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  hero  of  that  exploit  at  closer  range. 
He  at  once  established  himself  as  a  favorite  with  the 
people,  who,  rude  and  rough  though  they  were,  readily 
appreciated  the  good  qualities  of  any  stranger  that  came 
among  them.  All  were  strangers  to  each  other  at  first,  in 
those  changeable  times.  Villages  grew  and  fell  into 
nothingness  again  ;  large  tracts  of  land  were  covered  with 
cabins  of  settlers  and  were  again  depopulated  as  the  fancy 
of  the  wandering  tribes  seized  them.  New  Salem  was 
very  new  when  Lincoln  was  stuck  on  the  dam  before  it ; 
he  spent  only  a  short  time  there,  giving  it  an  immortality 
of  name  that  few  villages  ever  earn  ;  it  faded  away  into 
nothingness  and  its  site  was  forgotten,  after  he  went  away. 
In  managing  the  country  store,  as  in  every  thing  that 
he  undertook  for  others,  Lincoln  did  his  very  best.  He 
was  honest,  civil,  ready  to  do  any  thing  that  should  en- 
courage customers  to  come  to  the  place,  full  of  pleasantries, 
patient,  and  alert.  On  one  occasion,  finding,  late  at  night, 
when  he  counted  over  his  cash,  that  he  had  taken  a  few 
cents  from  a  customer  more  than  was  due,  he  closed  the 
store  and  walked  a  long  distance  to  make  good  the  de- 
ficiency. At  another  time,  discovering  on  the  scales,  in 
the  morning,  a  weight  with  which  he  had  weighed  out  a 
package  of  tea  for  a  woman,  the  night  before,  he  saw  that 


58  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

he  had  given  her  too  little  for  her  money  ;  he  weighed  out 
what  was  due  and  carried  it  to  her,  much  to  the  surprise 
of  the  woman,  who  had  not  known  that  she  was  short  in 
the  amount  of  her  purchase.  Innumerable  incidents  of 
this  sort  are  related  of  Lincoln  ;  and  we  should  not  have 
space  to  tell  of  the  alertness  with  which  he  sprung  to 
protect  defenceless  women  from  insult,  or  feeble  children 
from  tyranny ;  for  in  the  rude  community  in  which  he 
lived,  the  rights  of  the  defenceless  were  not  always 
respected  as  they  should  have  been.  There  were  bullies 
then,  as  now. 

Lincoln  soon  had  a  taste  of  the  quality  of  some  of 
these.  Not  far  from  New  Salem  was  a  group  of  farms  in 
what  was  known  as  Clary's  Grove.  The  "  Clary's  Grove 
boys,"  as  the  overgrown  young  men  of  the  settlement 
were  called,  were  rude,  boisterous,  swaggering,  and  tre- 
mendous fighters.  They  cast  their  eyes  on  the  young 
stranger  at  Offutt's  store,  so  well  liked  by  the  women,  and 
resolved  that  he  should  be  "  taken  down  a  peg."  Stories 
of  young  Lincoln's  prowess  in  wrestling  had  gone  abroad, 
perhaps,  and  the  conceit  which  the  boys  of  Clary's  Grove 
thought  was  in  the  stranger  was  to  be  taken  out  of  him. 
Jack  Armstrong,  the  bully  of  the  band,  was  pitched  upon 
to  lay  low  Abe  Lincoln.  The  crowd  gathered  around  to 
see  the  sport,  but  the* stalwart  young  Kentuckian  soon 
showed  that  he  was  more  than  a  match  for  the  champion 
of  Clary's  Grove.  Jack  Armstrong  was  slowly  sinking 
under  the  vigorous  wrestling  of  the  long-limbed  Lincoln, 
and  the  entire  gang  were  ready  to  break  in  and  over- 


60  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

whelm  him.  Jack  resorted  to  foul  play,  in  his  despera- 
tion, and  Lincoln,  stung  by  this  meanness,  seized  the  bully 
by  the  throat,  with  both  hands,  and,  putting  forth  all  his 
giant  strength,  flung  him  in  the  air,  shaking  him  as  though 
he  were  a  child,  the  legs  of  the  champion  whirling  madly 
over  his  head.  At  this  astounding  performance,  the 
gang  of  Clary's  Grove  broke  into  the  circle,  and  Lincoln, 
backing  against  the  store,  calmly  waited  their  onset ;  but 
Jack  Armstrong,  with  what  breath  remained  to  him, 
warned  off  his  comrades,  and,  touched  by  a  feeling  of 
chivalry,  shook  his  adversary  by  the  hand,  crying  :  "  Boys! 
Abe  Lincoln  is  the  best  fellow  that  ever  broke  into  this 
settlement !  He  shall  be  one  of  us  !  "  That  settled  it. 
Out  of  the  fight  that  he  had  tried  to  avoid,  Lincoln 
emerged  as  champion.  Thenceforth,  no  truer  friend,  no 
more  devoted  ally  than  Jack  Armstrong  to  Abraham 
Lincoln  ever  lived.  In  later  days,  when  Lincoln  was 
out  of  money,  out  of  work,  all  that  Jack  had  was  his. 
And  when,  at  very  rare  intervals,  some  reckless  fellow 
disregarded  Lincoln's  claim  to  championship,  he  quickly 
learned  from  the  patient,  long-suffering  young  giant,  when 
he  had  been  pressed  too  far,  that  this  man  was  the  toughest 
athlete  in  that  settlement. 

The  reader  should  not  be  misled  with  a  notion  that 
Lincoln  loved  fighting  and  strife ;  far  from  it,  he  was  al- 
ways a  man  of  peace.  It  was  only  when  he  was  pushed 
and  provoked  beyond  endurance  that  he  burst  upon  his 
tormentor  and  punished  him  so  thoroughly  and  speedily 
that,  as  the  saying  is,  he  did  not  know  what  hurt  him, 


"HONEST  ABE."  6l 

and  when  the  punishment  was  over,  the  good-natured 
young  giant  was  ready  to  soothe  the  feelings  of  the  van- 
quished. When  he  had  knocked  down  and  mauled  a  bully, 
and  had  rubbed  his  face  with  smart-weed,  by  way  of  ridicu- 
lous discipline,  he  let  him  up,  helped  him  to  compose  his 
disorder  and  brought  him  water  to  assuage  the  woes  of 
his  irritated  countenance.  Lincoln  was  no  fighter.  He 
was  brave,  absolutely  unafraid  of  anybody  or  any  thing. 
He  never  played  cards,  nor  gambled,  nor  smoked,  nor 
used  profane  language,  nor  addicted  himself  to  any  of  the 
rude  vices  of  the  times.  But  far  and  wide  he  was  reck- 
oned a  hero,  worshipped  by  the  stalwart  wrestlers  and  run- 
ners of  the  region,  cordially  liked  by  the  women,  respect- 
ed as  a  rising  and  brave  young  fellow  by  the  elders,  and 
earning  for  himself  the  title  that  stuck  to  him  through 
life,  "  honest  Abe." 

Abe  Lincoln  became,  by  general  consent,  the  peace- 
maker, the  arbitrator  of  all  the  petty  quarrels  of  the 
neighborhood.  Shunning  vulgar  brawls  himself,  he  at- 
tempted to  keep  others  out  of  them.  An  absolutely  hon- 
est man,  he  advised  exact  justice  to  all  who  sought  his 
advice  ;  and,  whenever  there  was  too  much  violence  de- 
veloped in  debate  around  Offutt's  store  door,  the  tall  form 
of  the  young  manager  was  sure  to  be  seen  towering  over 
the  conflict  ;  and  when  argument  failed  to  quell  the  dis- 
turbance, the  terrific  windmill  of  those  long  arms  invaria- 
bly brought  peace.  In  all  his  activities,  however,  Lincoln 
never  for  one  moment  knew  what  it  was  to  "  let  up  "  on 
his  reading  and  studies.  There  is  something  saddening  in 


62  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

the  record  of  his  struggles  to  master  every  thing  that  he 
thought  worth  knowing  that  was  within  his  reach.  Very 
poor  he  was,  but  he  skimped  himself  and  went  without 
what  many  boys  would  call  necessary  clothing  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  Louisville  Courier,  then  edited  by  that  fa- 
mous whig,  George  D.  Prentice,  a  witty  and  most  brill- 
iant man.  This  was,  as  he  afterwards  said,  his  greatest 
luxury.  He  read  every  word,  and  some  of  its  articles 
were  committed  to  memory  by  sheer  force  of  habit.  Pon- 
dering over  the  editorial  articles  of  his  favorite  newspaper, 
he  attempted  to  discover  how  they  were  constructed,  and 
what  were  the  rules  by  which  language  was  composed 
and  sentences  framed.  Application  to  the  village  school- 
master gave  him  a  hint  as  to  grammar,  and  he  was  not 
satisfied  until  he  had  hunted  down,  somewhere  in  the 
region,  a  copy  of  "  Kirkham's  Grammar."  This  he  car- 
ried home,  borrowed,  in  great  triumph,  nor  did  he  pause 
until  he  had  mastered  its  contents.  Speaking  of  it,  long 
afterwards,  he  said  that  he  was  surprised  to  find  how  little 
there  was  in  a  work  that  was  made  so  much  of  by  the 
schoolmaster.  He  had  "  collared  "  it  in  a  week,  and  had 
returned  the  book  to  its  owner. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A   PLUNGE   INTO   POLITICS. 

Young  Lincoln's  Growing  Passion  for  Knowledge — Candidate  for  the  State 
Legislature — Captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  War — A  Gathering  of  Men 
Since  Famous — Hardships  of  the  Volunteer  Soldiers — Stump-Speaking 
and  Defeat — Lincoln  as  a  Country  Merchant — Lawyer  and  Surveyor. 

UP  to  this  time,  Lincoln  had  never  held  any  office, 
except  that  of  an  occasional  clerk  of  election. 
So  far  as  we  know,  he  never  had  any  ambition  for 
office-holding.  But  the  spring  of  1832  found  him  out 
of  business,  out  of  work.  Offutt's  store  had  gone  to 
pieces,  that  gentleman's  numerous  irons  in  the  fire 
having  at  last  proved  too  many  for  him.  If  ever 
Lincoln  was  at  liberty  to  try  his  hand  at  politics,  this  was 
the  time.  He  had  been  trained,  or  rather  had  grown  up, 
in  the  backwoods,  had  gradually  made  the  acquaintance 
of  mankind,  had  meditated  and  read  as  no  young  man 
ever  before  had  meditated  and  read,  and  had  accustomed 
himself  to  speaking  extemporaneously.  He  was  a  good 
story-teller,  alert,  quick-witted,  full  of  apt  illustration  and 
anecdote,  was  so  close  a  student  of  human  nature  that  he 
was  always  able  to  adapt  himself  to  his  little  audience, 
whether  it  was  the  group  of  loungers  about  the  black- 

63 


64  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

smith's  shop  at  the  cross-roads,  or  the  knot  of  farm 
laborers  that  gathered  about  to  hear  him  "  make  a  speech  " 
on  internal  improvements.  And,  above  all,  by  his  un- 
varying good-nature  and  helpfulness,  he  had  made  friends 
of  all  who  ever  met  him. 

One  historian,  who  happened  to  see  him  about  this 
time,  says  he  found  him  lying  on  a  trundle-bed,  reading 
intently  while  he  rocked  a  cradle  with  his  foot.  He  had 
plenty  of  leisure  ;  he  was  ready  to  lend  a  hand  (or  foot) 
to  any  overworked  housewife,  but  he  could  not  neglect 
his  book.  Always  a  book  was  ready  to  his  hand,  and  it  is 
said  of  him  that  when  he  had  nothing  else  to  do,  he  laid 
himself  at  length  in  the  shade  of  a  tree,  wheeling  around 
with  the  sun  all  day  long,  reading,  reading,  always  reading. 
At  the  bottom  of  a  barrel  of  "trash"  that  Offutt  had 
bought  of  some  speculative  person,  or  had  taken  in  ex- 
change for  goods,  Lincoln  found  two  old  law  books.  On 
these  he  fell  like  a  hungry  child,  and  he  never  left  them 
until  he  had  mastered  their  contents,  dry  and  indigestible 
though  they  might  have  seemed  to  the  average  youngster 
of  his  day.  In  this  way,  Lincoln  had  absorbed  a  great 
deal  of  useful  knowledge.  He  was  always  thirsty  for  in- 
formation. If  he  heard  of  a  new  book,  and  new  books 
were  pretty  scarce  in  those  days,  he  was  restless  until  he 
had  got  a  sight  at  it.  For  this  purpose,  he  walked  many 
a  mile,  counting  no  labor,  no  privation  anything,  if  it 
brought  him  nearer  the  coveted  information  of  men  and 
things.  He  was  accounted  very  learned  by  those  of  his 
neighbors  who  knew  aught  of  his  studies  ;  not  that  his 


A    CANDIDATE  FOR  THE   STATE  LEGISLATURE.      65 

knowledge  was  aired  with  any  pride ;  but  they  argued 
that  nobody  could  read  so  much  as  he  and  not  be  very 
erudite.  And  in  the  village  debates,  held  in  the  country 
store  or  at  other  lounging-places,  the  admiring  community 
united  in  the  verdict  that  "Abe  Lincoln  could  out-argue 
any  ten  men  in  the  settlement." 

Lincoln  resolved  to  become  a  candidate  for  Representa- 
tive to  the  Legislature,  and  in  a  circular,  dated  March  9, 
1832,  he  appealed  to  his  friends  and  fellow-citizens  to  vote 
for  him.  He  had  by  this  time  become  a  pronounced 
Whig  in  politics,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his  great 
chief  and  pattern,  Henry  Clay.  But  he  hoped,  and  not 
without  reason,  to  secure  many  of  the  votes  of  those  who 
knew  and  liked  him  for  his  manly  and  admirable  qualities. 
Before  the  election  came  on,  however,  there  was  a  call  for 
volunteers  to  repel  hostile  Indians.  The  famous  chief, 
Black  Hawk,  was  on  the  warpath.  During  the  previous 
year,  the  Sacs,  of  whom  Black  Hawk  was  the  recognized 
leader,  had  given  much  trouble  to  the  settlers  along  the 
east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Illinois.  By  treaty,  the 
band  had  gone  to  the  west  of  the  river  and  had  given  up 
all  claim  to  their  old  hunting-grounds  and  corn-fields  on 
the  other  side  of  the  stream ;  but  they  insisted  that  they 
had  been  wrongfully  dealt  with  by  the  white  man,  and 
that  they  still  had  a  right  to  "  make  corn  "  in  their  old 
haunts.  It  is  a  matter  of  record,  too,  that  they  had  been 
shamefully  treated  by  some  of  the  settlers,  and  that,  on 
the  least  provocation,  they  were  made  to  suffer  the  white 
man's  vengeance.  These  troubles  came  to  a  head  in  May, 


66  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

1832,  when  Black  Hawk,  at  the  head  of  about  forty  braves, 
crossed  the  Mississippi  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and  pursued  his  way  up- 
stream  in  a  leisurely  manner.  The  governor  of  the  State 
called  for  two  thousand  volunteers.  The  country  was 
panic-stricken. 

Lincoln  was  among  the  first  to  volunteer.  Whether  he 
went  from  pure  love  of  adventure,  or  because  he  thought 
his  services  in  the  expected  war  would  help  him  in  his 
canvass,  we  can  only  guess.  At  the  head  of  a  party  of 
Sangamon  County  men,  among  whom  were  many  of  the 
Clary's  Grove  boys,  Lincoln  made  his  way  to  the  North, 
where  General  Atkinson,  then  in  command  of  the  small 
United  States  force  operating  in  the  region,  was  en- 
camped. The  company  was  organized  in  Rushville, 
Schuyler  County,  and  Lincoln  was  chosen  captain.  The 
only  other  candidate  for  martial  honors  was  one  Kirk- 
patrick,  a  substantial  trader  from  the  New  Salem  country, 
with  whom  Lincoln  had  had  a  slight  difference  before 
that,  owing  to  Kirkpatrick's  overbearing  manners  towards 
the  young  backwoodsman.  The  Clary's  Grove  boys  in- 
sisted that  nobody  but  Lincoln  should  lead  them  to  the 
war.  Word  was  given  that  all  in  favor  of  Lincoln  should 
range  themselves  by  his  side,  as  he  stood  on  the  village 
green,  and  all  who  favored  Kirkpatrick  should  take 
position  near  him.  When  the  lines  were  formed,  Lincoln's 
was  three  times  as  long  as  Kirkpatrick's ;  and  so  he  was 
joyfully  declared  to  be  elected.  This  unsought  honor,  the 
first  elective  office  that  he  ever  held,  gave  Lincoln  so 


SA  VING  AN  INDIAN.  6? 

much  pleasure  that  years  after,  when  he  was  President,  he 
said  that  nothing  that  came  to  him  afforded  him  so  much 
solid  satisfaction. 

Lincoln's  company  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  Rock  River,  by  Robert 
Anderson,  a  lieutenant  and  assistant  inspector-general 
of  the  army.  The  little  force  reported  to  Colonel  Zachary 
Taylor,  U.  S.  Army.  In  later  years,  Robert  Anderson 
commanded  at  Fort  Sumter,  when  the  first  gun  of  the 
rebellion  was  fired.  As  "  Rough  and  Ready  "  General 
Taylor  was  endeared  to  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  and 
he  was  elected  to  the  presidency  in  1844.  The  campaign 
against  Black  Hawk  was  short  and  decisive. 

Two  incidents  are  related  of  Lincoln.  An  aged  Indian, 
half-starved  and  alone,  came  into  camp,  one  day,  bearing 
a  safe-conduct  from  General  Cass.  The  soldiers,  infuri- 
ated by  some  recent  atrocities  of  Black  Hawk's  men,  fell 
upon  him  and  would  have  killed  him.  Lincoln,  hearing 
the  tumult,  burst  excitedly  into  the  group  and,  throwing 
up  their  levelled  muskets  with  his  own  hands,  cried : 
"  Boys !  You  shall  not  do  this  thing !  You  shall  not  shoot 
at  this  Indian!"  For  an  instant,  he  stood  defiantly  be- 
tween the  red  refugee  and  his  assailants,  sheltering  him- 
from  their  ready  weapons,  and  it  was  for  a  time  doubtful 
if  both  would  not  bite  the  dust.  But  the  men,  seeing  the 
courage  and  manliness  of  their  captain,  lowered  their  guns 
and  turned  sullenly  away.  One  of  Lincoln's  faithful 
comrades,  Bill  Green,  said  of  this :  "  I  never  saw  Lincoln 
so  roused  before." 


68  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

When  Lincoln  was  in  the  White  House,  he  told  this 
story  :  The  only  time  he  ever  saw  blood  in  this  campaign 
was  one  morning  when,  marching  up  a  little  valley  that 
makes  into  the  Rock  River  bottom,  to  reinforce  a  squad 
of  outposts  that  were  thought  to  be  in  danger,  they  came 
upon  the  tent  occupied  by  the  other  party,  just  at  sunrise. 
The  men  had  neglected  to  place  any  guard  at  night,  and 
had  been  slaughtered  in  their  sleep.  As  the  reinforcing 
party  came  up  the  slope  on  which  the  camp  had  been 
made,  Lincoln  saw  them  all  lying  with  their  heads  towards 
the  rising  sun,  and  the  round  red  spot  that  marked  where 
they  had  been  scalped,  gleamed  more  redly  yet  in  the 
ruddy  light  of  the  sun.  This  was  Lincoln's  first  glimpse 
of  what  war  might  be,  and  years  afterwards,  when  the 
land  was  being  desolated,  he  recalled  it  with  a  certain 
shudder. 

The  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend  of  the  troops  was 
John  Dixon,  even  then  known  as  Father  Dixon,  the  pio- 
neer, who  kept  a  ferry  on  the  Rock  River,  at  the  point 
where  the  Galena  wagon-road  to  the  lower  part  of  the 
State  crossed  the  stream.  Father  Dixon  was  well  known 
to  the  Indians  as  "  Na-chu-sa,"  or  "  the  white-haired." 
On  that  historic  spot,  where  met  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Zachary  Taylor,  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis,  Lieutenant 
Robert  Anderson,  and  Private  Abraham  Lincoln,  now 
stands  the  city  of  Dixon,  in  Lee  County.  At  that  time 
it  was  only  a  hamlet  of  log-houses  that  marked  the  spot, 
and  the  rope-ferry  of  Father  Dixon  was  all  the  means  of 
communication  between  the  shores  now  spanned  by 


T^C$?:<? 

Vj£^t-*/>       •'•  •  '"  -;iv ^''^'^t'f^.  ip^g^^Tr  frT'- 
•' 'iSS^KiL  ^.-  •  "•-. r?%^ &$5*^\i^3^3ii*s?%Sib  ^ ' •" 


>--; 'T*"***'/         :  '-/•:-:•  v.         -  S^g     •- -'• 

•V&^?r  V  '  X ;,*/?* 

'- 


70  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

sundry  railroad  and  wagon  thoroughfares.  The  advance 
guard  of  all  scouting-parties,  according  to  Father  Dixon, 
was  Lincoln,  whose  keen  eyes  and  subtle  woodcraft  en- 
abled him  to  detect  signs  of  Indians  that  less  skilful 
observers  would  fail  to  note.  At  night,  loitering  around 
the  camp-fire,  the  volunteer  soldiers  drank  in  with  delight 
the  jests  and  stories  of  the  tall  captain.  yEsop's  fables  in 
new  dress  he  gave  them,  or  he  recounted  the  tales  of  war, 
humor,  and  wild  adventure  that  he  had  brought  away 
with  him  from  Kentucky  and  Indiana.  It  was  related  of 
him,  too,  that  his  inspiration  was  never  stimulated  by 
recourse  to  the  whiskey-jug.  When  his  grateful  and 
delighted  auditors  pressed  this  on  him,  he  had  one  reply : 
"Thank  you,  I  never  drink  it." 

During  the  short  campaign,  the  time  for  which  the  men 
enlisted  expired,  and  some  of  the  tired  soldiers  gladly 
went  home.  But  Lincoln  again  re-enlisted,  this  time 
serving  as  a  private,  and  he  was  a  second  time  mustered 
in  by  Lieutenant  Anderson.  The  fighting,  however,  was 
practically  over,  and  Lincoln  and  his  comrade,  George  W. 
Harrison,  started  for  New  Salem,  having  been  mustered 
out  at  Whitewater,  on  the  Fox  River,  Wisconsin,  June 
16,  1832. 

In  1848,  while  Lincoln  was  in  Congress,  General  Lewis 
Cass  was  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and  his  friends 
made  much  of  his  military  record.  To  Lincoln's  mind, 
ever  disposed  to  the  humorous  side  of  things,  this  seemed 
absurd,  and,  addressing  the  Chair,  one  day,  in  the  course 
of  debate,  he  said  : 


DEFEAT.  /I 

"  Did  you  know,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  a  military  hero  ?  In  the 
days  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  I  fought,  bled,  and  came  away. 
I  was  not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was  about  as  near  it  as 
General  Cass  was  to  Hull's  surrender ;  and,  like  him,  I  saw 
the  place  very  soon  afterwards.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not 
break  my  sword,  for  I  had  none  to  break,  but  I  bent  my 
musket  pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  If  General  Cass  went 
in  advance  of  me  picking  whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed 
him  in  charges  on  the  wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live  fight- 
ing Indians,  it  was  more  that  I  did,  but  I  had  a  good  many 
bloody  struggles  with  the  mosquitoes  ;  and  although  I  never 
fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly  say  I  was  often  very 
hungry.  Mr.  Speaker,  if  ever  I  should  conclude  to  doff  what- 
ever our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose  there  is  of  black- 
cockade  Federalism  about  me,  and  thereupon  they  shall  take 
me  up  as  their  candidate  for  the  presidency,  I  protest  that  they 
shall  not  make  fun  of  me,  as  they  have  of  General  Cass,  by 
attempting  to  write  me  into  a.  military  hero." 

On  their  way  home,  the  two  heroes  of  the  Black  Hawk 
war  had  their  only  horse  stolen  from  them.  They  had 
been  proceeding  in  the  manner  known  as  "  ride  and  tie," 
taking  alternate  spells  on  the  horse's  back ;  now  they 
were  forced  to  take  "  shanks'  mare  "  and  they  made  their 
weary  way  to  Sangamon  County,  where  the  tall  champion 
story-teller  and  debater  had  only  ten  days  to  make  his 
canvass  for  the  seat  in  the  Legislature  to  which  he  aspired. 
Part  of  the  way  down  the  Illinois  they  floated  in  a  canoe 
that  they  bought  at  a  great  bargain,  and  then  they  walked 
across  country  for  New  Salem.  The  election  soon  came 
on,  and,  although  Lincoln  received  a  majority  of  the 
votes  of  his  own  precinct,  he  was  not  chosen  to  the  Legis- 
lature. For  member  of  Congress,  both  candidates 


72  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

together  received  in  New  Salem,  206  votes ;  Lincoln  re- 
ceived 207.  This  tribute  to  his  personal  popularity  grati- 
fied Lincoln  very  much.  He  had  not  built  great  hopes 
on  his  election,  and  he  was  not  seriously  disappointed  by 
his  failure  to  get  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  in  the  dis- 
trict. In  those  primitive  days,  it  was  not  usual  for  candi- 
dates to  expend  much  money  in  a  canvass,  and  this  fact 
did  not  make  Lincoln's  defeat  so  great  a  misfortune  to 
him  as  it  might  have  been  under  other  circumstances. 

In  his  speeches,  we  are  told,  Lincoln  announced  him- 
self opposed  to  the  party  then  in  power.  In  the  circular 
before-mentioned,  he  had  taken  ground  as  a  Whig;  and  in 
one  of  the  few  speeches  of  which  we  have  scanty  reports, 
he  said  :  "  I  am  in  favor  of  a  national  bank ;  I  am  in  fa- 
vor of  the  internal  improvement  system,  and  of  a  protec- 
tive tariff.  These  are  my  sentiments  and  political  princi- 
ples." They  were  sentiments  and  principles  exactly  op- 
posed to  the  party  in  power.  Andrew  Jackson  was  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States.  He  had  informed  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  with  a  spirit  of  proscription,  and  it  had  been 
publicly  announced,  that  every  man  who  was  not  a  "  whole- 
hog  Jackson  man  "  was  to  be  whipped  out  of  place  and 
office  — "  like  dogs  out  of  a  smoke-house,"  was  the 
homely  and  striking  phrase  used.  It  cost  some  effort, 
perhaps,  for  a  poor  and  comparatively  unknown  young 
man,  without  family  friends  to  back  him,  to  cast  in  his  lot 
with  the  despised  minority.  But  in  that  path  Lincoln 
followed. 

Lincoln's  canvass  brought  him  into  contact  with  many 


STUMP-SPEAKING.  73 

of  the  prominent  men  of  that  part  of  the  State.  His 
speeches  were  argumentative,  interspersed  with  racy  an- 
ecdotes, full  of  humor,  and  more  diffuse,  perhaps,  than 
those  delivered  in  later  years.  He  had  already  won  a  lo- 
cal repute  for  his  shrewd  reasoning,  and  one  who  often 
heard  him  at  that  time  has  borne  testimony  to  the  convin- 
cing character  of  his  logic.  Dr.  A.  G.  Henry,  an  intimate 
friend  and  neighbor,  said  that  men  whose  principles  were 
opposed  to  Lincoln's  sometimes  refused  to  hear  him 
speak.  "  He  makes  me  believe  him  whether  I  will  or 
no/'  said  one  of  these  unwilling  "  whole-hog  Jackson 
men."  Of  his  personal  appearance,  another,  Judge  S.  T. 
Logan,  said  :  "  He  was  a  very  tall,  gawky,  and  awkward- 
looking  young  fellow  then  ;  his  pantaloons  did  n't  meet 
his  shoes  by  six  inches.  But  after  he  began  speaking,  I  be- 
came very  much  interested  in  him."  Lincoln's  manner 
when  "  on  the  stump,"  was  that  of  a  man  wholly  at  ease, 
awkward  although  his  personal  appearance  may  have 
been. 

In  those  far-off  days,  on  the  frontiers  of  the  new  coun- 
try, people  were  careless  of  dress,  rude  in  manners,  and 
free  and  easy  in  their  relations  with  each  other.  To  take 
the  stump  was  to  mount  the  most  convenient  object 
around  which  people  could  gather,  even  the  stump  of  a 
newly  felled  tree,  and  address  the  voters  assembled,  in  a 
homely,  off-hand,  and  argumentative  manner,  urging  the 
reasons  why  the  speaker  should  be  chosen  to  the  place 
for  which  he  was  a  candidate.  It  was  not  uncommon  for 
the  audience  to  ask  questions  of  the  speaker,  while  he  was 


74  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

in  full  tide  of  his  address.  Lincoln  always  answered  these 
queries,  when  they  were  not  impertinent,  with  ready 
good-humor  and  generally  with  what  was  called  "  an  act- 
ual settler  of  an  argument."  On  one  occasion,  seeing 
from  his  elevation  that  a  friend  of  his  in  the  crowd  before 
him  had  been  attacked  by  a  ruffianly  fellow,  and  was  get- 
ting the  worst  of  it,  Lincoln  descended  from  his  tempo- 
rary rostrum,  seized  the  assailant  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck, 
threw  him  about  ten  feet,  and  then,  having  discharged 
his  duty  as  a  keeper  of  the  peace,  calmly  remounted  the 
stump  and  went  on  with  his  speech,  as  if  nothing  had 
happened  to  interrupt  it.  A  man  who,  on  fit  occasions, 
was  as  ready  with  his  muscle  as  with  his  mental  power 
had  many  friends  in  the  frontier  region. 

Defeated  in  his  race  for  the  Legislature,  a  disbanded 
volunteer,  with  his  late  employer  in  bankruptcy,  Lincoln 
was  forced  to  look  around  him  for  some  means  of  liveli- 
hood. He  had  none.  He  had  dabbled  in  politics  and 
done  some  campaigning,  and  these  occupations  had  un- 
fitted him  for  resuming  his  place  as  a  day  laborer.  Money 
was  scarce  with  everybody  in  those  parts.  Most  financial 
transactions  required  nothing  more  substantial  than  notes 
of  hand  that  passed  from  one  to  the  other,  mere  promises 
to  pay,  which  might  or  might  not  be  made  good  in  the 
future.  In  this  way,  Lincoln  bought  the  half-interest  of 
one  of  the  Herndon  brothers  in  their  country  store. 
Somehow,  he  was  attracted  to  mercantile  pursuits.  The 
business  gave  him  ample  leisure  for  study.  Customers 
were  never  too  numerous.  The  store  of  a  neighboring 


A    COUNTRY  MEKCftANT.  ?$ 

merchant,  one  Radford,  had  become  offensive  to  the 
Clary's  Grove  boys,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  and 
they  promptly  wrecked  it,  staving  in  the  windows  and 
prying  out  one  corner  of  its  foundations.  Radford  thought 
it  best  to  move  from  thence,  and  he  sold  his  stock  to  a 
chance  passenger  named  Greene,  the  price  being  two 
hundred  dollars — on  paper.  Lincoln  was  called  in  to 
make  an  inventory  of  the  contents  of  the  damaged  build- 
ing, and,  being  fascinated  with  the  possibilities  of  the 
stock,  he  offered  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  lot. 
Greene  gladly  accepted  the  proposition,  and  gave  full 
possession  of  the  establishment  to  Lincoln,  making  fifty 
dollars  on  his  bargain — also  on  paper.  For  not  a  cent  of 
hard  money  changed  hands,  the  consideration  being,  as 
usual,  a  note  of  hand. 

In  this  venture,  Lincoln  had  a  partner,  one  Berry,  an 
idle  and  dissolute  fellow,  from  whom  he  was  soon  obliged 
to  separate,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  enterprise,  be- 
gun with  so  much  promise  and  so  many  expectations,  fell 
into  ruin,  and  the  goods  were  sold  in  lots  to  suit  pur- 
chasers, to  close  out  the  concern.  Lincoln  was  again  on 
the  world  without  occupation,  and  loaded  down  with 
debts  incurred  in  this  latest  speculation.  The  store,  as 
he  expressed  it,  had  "  winked  out,"  and  he  had  no  imme- 
diate recourse.  He  had  read  law  books  in  a  desultory 
and  unaided  way,  and  now  he  tackled  them  with  more 
energy  than  ever,  dimly  realizing  that  here,  at  least,  was 
a  gleam  of  leading  light  for  him.  He  borrowed  every 
book  on  law  that  he  could  find,  the  attorneys  of  the  re- 


76  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

gion  round  about  good-naturedly  lending  him  whatever 
they  had.  In  his  quest  for  information  of  this  sort,  he 
often  walked  from  New  Salem  to  Springfield,  a  distance 
of  fourteen  miles. 

He  also  bought  an  old  book  of  legal  forms,  and  amused 
himself  and  his  neighbors  with  drawing  up  imaginary 
deeds,  wills,  and  conveyances  in  which  fictitious  property 
was  disposed  of  at  tremendous  prices  ;  this  by  way  of 
practice.  But,  whenever  an  opportunity  occurred,  the 
people  went  to  "  Abe  Lincoln  "  for  advice  and  assistance 
in  the  selling  or  mortgaging  of  real  estate,  and  thus  he 
gradually  worked  his  way  into  something  like  a  business. 
His  fees,  he  used  to  say,  were  generally  necessaries  of 
life  turned  in  to  the  family  with  whom  he  happened  to 
board.  He  also  undertook  small  cases  on  trial  before  the 
justice  of  the  peace,  and,  to  use  his  own  figure  of  speech, 
•'  tried  on  a  dog  "  his  legal  eloquence  and  lore.  He  was 
trying  himself  in  these  paths  into  which  he  was  to  enter 
for  life,  by  and  by.  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
Lincoln's  friends  and  associates  unite  in  saying  that  he 
never  undertook  a  case  that  was  not  founded  on  justice 
and  right,  and  that  when  he  did  argue  to  a  jury,  as  he 
sometimes  did,  the  impression  was  that  he  sincerely  be- 
lieved every  thing  he  said.  He  was  making  reputation,  as 
well  as  preparing  himself  for  work  in  his  destined  field. 
And,  in  the  matter  of  counsel,  he  was,  as  well  as  in  more 
violent  quarrels  and  disputes,  "  everybody's  friend." 
About  this  time,  too,  that  is  to  say,  in  1833,  he  undertook 
the  study  of  surveying,  and  as  in  other  undertakings,  he  sue- 


78  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

ceeded  so  well  that  he  soon  became  an  expert.  His  instru- 
ments were  few  and  simple  ;  contemporaries  have  said 
that  his  first  chain  was  a  grape-vine.  But  maps  and  plots 
of  land  surveyed  by  Lincoln,  still  extant,  show  a  neatness 
and  semblance  of  accuracy  that  testify  to  the  rigid  care 
that  he  always  exercised  in  all  his  work.  Mr.  John  Cal- 
houn,  county  surveyor,  was  at  this  period  a  useful  friend 
to  young  Lincoln.  The  region  round  about  was  full  of 
mushroom  cities  springing  up  in  a  day ;  they  had  to  be 
surveyed  in  order  that  their  fortunate  owners  could  de- 
scribe to  the  guileless  new  arrivals  the  location  of  streets, 
public  squares,  and  other  features  of  future  magnificence 
laid  down — on  paper.  Lincoln  became  an  assistant  to 
Calhoun,  and,  when  occasion  required,  was  a  surveyor 
"  on  his  own  hook." 

In  May,  1833,  Andrew  Jackson  being  President,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  was  appointed  postmaster  of  New  Salem. 
The  office  had  very  small  revenues  and  no  political  import- 
ance. It  was  given  to  Lincoln,  because  all  his  neighbors 
wanted  him  to  have  it,  and  he  was  the  only  man  willing 
to  take  it  and  able  to  make  out  the  necessary  returns  to 
the  post-office  department.  The  mail  was  light,  and 
Lincoln,  as  tradition  runs,  generally  carried  the  post-office 
in  his  hat.  He  could  not  keep  at  home,  of  course,  and 
when  a  villager  met  him  and  asked  if  there  were  letters  for 
him,  the  postmaster  gravely  searched  through  his  hat  for 
an  answer.  But  there  were  newspapers  brought  to 
New  Salem  by  this  weekly  mail,  and  Lincoln  religiously 
made  it  his  duty  to  read  them  all  before  they  could  be 


"THE  NATIONAL  DEBT."  79 

called  for ;  this,  he  used  to  say,  made  the  office  worth 
more  to  him  than  many  times  the  amount  of  the  money 
income  could  have  been.  In  course  of  time,  the  popula- 
tion of  New  Salem  migrated  to  other  and  more  promis- 
ing localities,  and  the  post-office  was  discontinued.  In 
later  years,  an  agent  of  the  post-office  department  hunted 
up  the  ex-postmaster  and  demanded  the  small  balance 
due  to  the  government ;  the  amount  was  seventeen  dollars 
and  some  odd  cents.  His  friend  and  neighbor,  Dr.  A.  G. 
Henry,  happened  to  be  present  when  the  agent  made  this 
unexpected  demand,  and,  knowing  Lincoln's  extreme 
poverty,  took  him  aside  and  offered  to  lend  him  the  sum 
required.  "  Hold  on  a  minute,"  said  Lincoln,  "  and  let  's 
see  how  we  come  out."  Going  to  his  sleeping-room,  he 
brought  out  an  old  stocking  and,  untying  it,  poured  on 
the  table  the  exact  amount,  just  as  it  had  been  paid  to 
him  in  pennies  and  small  silver  pieces.  Many  a  time  had 
Lincoln  been  in  bitter  want,  many  a  time  hard-pressed  for 
money ;  but  the  receipts  of  the  little  post-office  were  to 
him  a  sacred  trust  to  be  kept  until  required  of  him. 

The  debt  incurred  by  the  "winking  out"  of  the  store 
of  Berry  and  Lincoln  pressed  upon  him.  So  vast  did  it 
seem  that  he  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  it  as  "  the 
national  debt."  But,  unlike  most  national  debts,  it  was 
ultimately  paid.  In  the  course  of  business,  the  notes 
that  he  and  Berry  had  given  for  the  stock-in-trade  fell 
into  the  hands  of  a  person  who  was  more  than  usually 
impatient ;  for  every  man's  credit,  in  those  days,  was  un- 
limited. The  creditor  in  this  case  seized  Lincoln's  horse, 


80  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

saddle,  and  bridle,  and  sold  them  under  a  sheriff's  execu- 
tion. One  of  Lincoln's  steadfast  friends,  Bolin  Greene, 
attended  the  sale,  from  which  Lincoln,  greatly  cast  down 
in  his  mind,  absented  himself.  Greene  bought  the  outfit 
and,  to  Lincoln's  great  surprise  and  relief,  gave  them  to 
him  with  the  injunction  :  "  Pay  for  them,  Abe,  when  you 
get  ready,  and  if  you  never  get  ready,  it  's  all  the  same  t'o 
me."  Not  long  after  this,  Bolin  Greene,  long  be  his 
name  remembered !  died,  and  Lincoln  was  asked  by  his 
townsmen  of  New  Salem  to  deliver  a  eulogy  at  his  burial. 
The  rising  young  lawyer  attempted  the  grateful  task,  but 
his  voice  failed  him.  The  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks 
as  he  rose  to  speak,  and,  overcome  with  emotion,  he  sat 
down  without  saying  a  word.  More  eloquent  than  words, 
his  tears  spoke  his  affection  for  the  man  who  had  been  his 
friend  in  need. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   YOUNG   POLITICIAN. 

Elected  to  the  Legislature — Stump  Speaker  and  Political  Debater — En- 
counters on  the  Stump  —  The  Lincoln-Stone  Protest  against  Slavery — 
"The  Long  Nine" — Removal  of  the  State  Capital  to  Springfield- 
Compliments  to  the  Sangamon  Chief — Lincoln  a  Full-Fledged  Lawyer 
— Riding  the  Illinois  Circuit — Distinguished  Associates  at  the  Bar — 
Lincoln  as  a  Harrison  Man. 

IN  1834,  Lincoln  again  became  a  candidate  for  the  Legis- 
lature. This  was  to  be  expected.  On  the  previous 
occasion,  he  had  made  what  was  a  very  good  run, 
although,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  a  very  few  days  in 
which  to  finish  his  canvass  after  returning  from  the  wars. 
The  election  took  place  in  August,  and,  after  a  sharp 
fight,  Lincoln  was  elected.  Many  Democrats,  we  are 
told,  voted  for  him  from  purely  personal  and  friendly 
reasons,  and  he  was  sure  of  the  united  support  of  the 
Whigs.  The  four  successful  candidates,  with  their  votes, 
were  as  follows :  Lincoln,  1,376;  Dawson,  1,370;  Carpen- 
ter, 1,170;  Stuart,  1,164;  Lincoln  thus  leading  the  poll. 
To  say  that  Lincoln  was  elated,  would  faintly  express  his 
satisfaction  over  this  great  but  not  unexpected  triumph. 
He  was  now  twenty-five  years  old,  hardy,  in  perfect 
health,  manly,  tolerably  self-possessed,  and  not  ashamed 

8l 


82  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

to  address  himself  to  the  discussion  of  any  of  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day,  and  fully  competent  to  hold  his  own 
with  the  general  run  of  debaters  on  the  stump,  or  in  the 
Legislature.  He  had  mastered  the  elementary  law-books, 
was  familiar  with  legal  phrases  and  forms,  knew  every  rod 
of  the  country  roundabout  the  region  from  which  he  was 
a  representative,  and,  above  all,  knew  the  people,  their 
wants,  their  hopes,  fears,  aspirations,  habits,  and  manner 
of  life.  With  a  few  books  he  was  on  the  most  intimate 
terms.  These  were  the  Bible,  Shakespeare,  Burns,  y£sop, 
and  "The  Pilgrim's  Progress."  He  was  honest,  truthful, 
kind-hearted,  patient,  long-suffering,  brave,  and  tender. 
Without  forming  his  literary  style  on  any  model,  indeed 
scarcely  even  thinking  of  style,  he  had  insensibly  acquired 
a  method  of  expressing  himself  both  in  reading  and  writ- 
ing, which  may  well  serve  as  an  example  for  the  youth  of 
to-day.  He  used  only  words  of  one  syllable,  where  that 
was  practicable,  and,  instead  of  diluting  his  thoughts  with 
many  words,  he  went  straight  to  the  point,  concisely  and 
without  any  delay.  He  was  awkward  in  appearance,  diffi- 
dent, and,  while  not  unduly  distrustful  of  himself,  always 
preferred  another  before  himself,  and  ever  showed  himself 
ready  to  give  place  to  others.  Above  all,  and  to  the 
latest  day  of  his  life,  Lincoln  was  not  ashamed  to  confess 
his  ignorance  of  any  subject ;  he  never  lost  an  opportu- 
nity to  get  instruction. 

The  capital  of  Illinois  was  then  at  Vandalia.  The  Legis- 
lature was  made  up  of  men  who,  like  Lincoln,  had  been 
selected  from  their  fellows  by  friends  and  neighbors, 


IN    THE  LEGISLATURE.  83 

chiefly  for  personal  reasons,  and  by  the  free  suffrages  of 
the  voters.  What  are  now  known  as  machine  politics,  in 
which  corrupt  and  selfish  party  interests  are  concerned, 
were  unknown  in  those  primitive  days.  The  members 
came  together,  passed  the  laws  thought  most  needful  for 
the  people,  and  then  went  home.  Clad  in  a  suit  of  decent 
but  not  especially  elegant  blue  jeans,  Lincoln,  with  his 
commanding  height,  was  a  marked  figure  in  the  Legisla- 
ture. But  we  do  not  learn  that  he  was  remarkable  for 
any  thing  else  but  his  height,  then  six  feet  and  two  inches. 
If  he  created  any  impression  otherwise,  it  was  when,  the 
day's  session  over,  he  tilted  his  chair  back  in  some  place 
where  the  budding  statesmen  chiefly  congregated,  and  en- 
tertained them  with  stories  of  which  the  repute  has  lasted 
long.  But  the  tall  young  backwoodsman,  now  passing 
into  the  era  of  statesmanship,  was  keenly  alive  to  all  that 
was  going  on.  He  held  his  place  in  the  legislative  de- 
bates, but  he  listened  to  others.  He  introduced  few  bills, 
but  he  narrowly  observed  what  other  men  were  doing  in 
this  direction  ;  and,  while  he  said  little,  he  took  in  every 
thing  and  thought  a  great  deal.  The  session  of  that  win- 
ter was  not  lost  to  him. 

Next  year,  he  was  again  nominated  for  the  Legislature 
and  was  again  elected,  this  time  receiving,  as  in  1834,  the 
largest  vote  of  any  candidate  voted  for  in  the  region.  In 
his  appeal  to  the  voters,  that  year,  Lincoln  said  :  "  I  go 
for  all  sharing  the  privileges  of  the  government  who  as- 
sist in  bearing  its  burdens.  Consequently,  I  go  for  admit- 
ting all  whites  to  the  right  of  suffrage  who  pay  taxes  or 


84  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

bear  arms  (by  no  means  excluding  females)."  And  again : 
"  Whether  elected  or  not,  I  go  for  distributing  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  the  several  States, 
to  enable  our  Static,  in  common  with  other  States,  to  dig 
canals  and  construct  railroads  without  borrowing  money 
and  paying  interest  on  it."  At  that  time  there  were  two 
great  questions  before  the  people  :  one  was  the  right  to 
vote  of  persons  not  born  in  the  United  States  ;  and  the 
other  was  the  policy  of  making  public  improvements, 
such  as  those  named  by  Lincoln,  at  public  expense.  Hen- 
ry Clay  was  Lincoln's  model  and  example  in  politics. 
And,  in  taking  a  broad  and  liberal  view  on  these  two  lead- 
ing questions,  Lincoln  was  not  only  most  outspoken  and 
resolute,  but  he  was  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
great  Whig  chief.  Nevertheless,  many  of  Lincoln's  friends 
were  amazed  at  the  audacity  and  seemingly  needless  cour- 
age of  the  young  candidate  for  legislative  honors. 

During  his  canvass,  Lincoln  made  additions  to  his  repu- 
tation for  ready  wit  and  humor.  On  one  occasion  he  was 
pitted  against  George  Forquer,  who,  from  being  a  leading 
Whig,  had  become  a  bitter  "  whole-hog  Jackson  man," 
and  had  been  rewarded  for  his  apostasy  with  a  good  of- 
fice. Forquer  was  not  a  candidate  in  this  canvass,  but 
was  called  in  to  "  boom  "  the  Democratic  nominee  against 
Lincoln.  Riding  into  Springfield,  where  the  meeting  was 
to  be  held,  Lincoln's  attention  was  drawn  to  Forquer's 
fine  house,  on  which  was  a  lightning-rod,  then  a  great  nov- 
elty in  those  parts.  Lincoln  had  been  allotted  to  close 
the  debate,  and  Forquer,  who  spoke  next  before  him,  de- 


ENCOUNTERS  ON  THE   STUMP.  85 

voted  himself  to  "taking  down"  the  young  man  from 
New  Salem.  He  ridiculed  his  dress,  manners,  and  rough 
personal  appearance,  and,  with  much  pomposity,  derided 
him  as  an  uncouth  youngster.  Lincoln*  on  rising  to  re- 
ply, stood  for  a  moment  with  flashing  eyes  and  pale 
cheeks,  betraying  his  inward  but  unspoken  wrath.  He 
began  by  answering  very  briefly  this  ungenerous  attack. 
He  said  :  "  I  am  not  so  young  in  years  as  I  am  in  the 
tricks  and  the  trades  of  a  politician  ;  but,  live  long,  or  die 
young,  I  would  rather  die  now,  than,  like  that  gentleman, 
change  my  politics,  and  with  the  change,  receive  an  office 
worth  three  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  then  feel  obliged 
to  erect  a  lightning-rod  over  my  house  to  protect  a  guilty 
conscience  from  an  offended  God."  The  effect  upon  the 
simple  audience,  gathered  there  in  the  open  air,  was  elec- 
trical. Here  was  a  pompous  and  vain-glorious  man,  who, 
as  the  settlers  thought,  could  not  sleep  in  his  fine  house, 
compared  with  which  their  rude  cabins  were  poor  indeed, 
without  setting  up  this  unusual  and  heaven-defying  in- 
strument. When  Forquer  rose  to  speak,  later  on  in  the 
canvass,  and  in  other  years,  people  said  :  "  That  's  the  man 
who  dare  not  sleep  in  his  own  house  without  a  lightning- 
rod  to  keep  off  the  vengeance  of  the  Almighty." 

At  another  time,  Lincoln  met  on  the  stump  Colonel 
Richard  Taylor,  a  self-conceited,  and  dandified  man,  who 
wore  a  gold  chain,  ruffled  shirt,  and  other  adornments  to 
which  the  men  of  Southern  Illinois  were  quite  unaccus- 
tomed. It  was  the  business  of  the  Democrats  to  rate  them- 
selves as  the  hard-working  bone  and  sinew'  of  the  land, 


86  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

while  the  Whigs  were  stigmatized  as  aristocrats,  ruffled- 
shirted  gentry.  This  was  Colonel  Taylor's  role,  and  he  spoke 
with  his  finery  concealed  under  a  long  surtout.  But,  mak- 
ing a  sweeping  gesture,  Taylor's  surtout  became  torn  open, 
and  his  gorgeous  array  of  chains,  seals,  pendants,  and  ruffles 
burst  forth,  to  his  manifest  dismay.  While  he  paused  in 
embarrassment,  Lincoln  seized  upon  the  opportunity, 
and,  standing  in  full  view,  with  his  coarse  attire  and  rough 
appearance  strongly  contrasting  with  the  dandified  Colonel, 
cried,  laying  his  hand  on  his  jeans-clad  breast :  "  Here  is 
your  aristocrat,  one  of  your  silk-stocking  gentry,  at  your 
service."  Then,  spreading  out  his  hands,  bronzed  and 
gaunt  with  toil:  "  Here  is  your  rag-baron  with  lily-white 
hands.  Yes,  I  suppose,  according  to  my  friend  Taylor,  I 
am  a  bloated  aristocrat !  "  It  was  a  long  time  before  the 
amiable  Colonel  Taylor  heard  the  last  of  that  exposure 
and  humiliation. 

In  the  Legislature  to  which  Lincoln  was  now  elected, 
were  not  a  few  men  whom  we  shall  meet  later  on  in  this 
strange,  eventful  history.  One  of  these  was  Edward  D. 
Baker,  a  wonderful  orator,  afterwards  Lincoln's  associate 
in  the  law,  and  subsequently  United  States  Senator  from 
Oregon,  a  general  in  the  army,  and  killed  at  Ball's  Bluff. 
Another  was  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas  ;  others  were  John 
J.  Hardin,  James  Shields,  William  A.  Richardson,  John 
Logan,  and  John  A.  McClernand.  From  Savannah 
County  there  were  two  Senators  and  seven  Representa- 
tives in  the  House,  nine  in  all,  and  each  man  very  tall, 
Lincoln  being  the  tallest  of  the  nine,  and  familiarly 


OPPOSITION  TO   SLA  VER  Y.  8? 

known  as  "  the  Sangamon  chief,"  more  on  account  of  his 
height  than  from  his  mental  leadership.  The  combined 
height  of  this  tall  delegation  was  fifty-five  feet.  No 
wonder  that  it  was  popularly  known  as  "  the  Long  Nine." 
One  of  the  most  notable  achievements  of  Sangamon 
County's  "  Long  Nine  "  that  winter,  was  the  removal  of 
the  capital  of  the  State  from  Vandalia,  Macon  County,  to 
Springfield,  Sangamon  County,  a  triumph  for  which  Lin- 
coln received  generous  credit  from  his  admiring  colleagues 
of  the  delegation. 

At  this  session,  too,  Lincoln  put  himself  on  record  for 
the  first  time,  as  opposed  to  the  further  extension  of  the 
American  system  of  human  slavery.  The  temper  of  the 
times,  at  least  in  that  region,  was  favorable  to  slavery. 
Illinois  and  Indiana  were  affected  by  the  pro-slavery  in- 
fluences of  their  nearest  neighbors,  Kentucky  and  Mis- 
souri, rivals  in  trade  and  commerce.  The  legislation  of 
these  two  States  was  designed  to  encourage  slave-holding 
in  the  slave-holding  States  and  discourage  all  anti-slavery 
agitation  in  non-slave-holding  States.  For,  at  that  time,  a 
few  bold  men  had  begun  to  teach  that  slavery  was  wrong, 
unjustifiable,  even  wicked.  The  entrance  of  free  colored 
people  into  Illinois  was  forbidden  by  statute,  and  the  in- 
famous "  black  laws,"  long  remembered  with  shame  as  de- 
signed to  curry  favor  with  slave-holding  neighbors  across 
the  border,  were  enacted.  Certain  resolutions  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  were  passed  by  the  Illinois  Legislature 
during  the  session  of  which  we  are  writing ;  what  they 
were,  we  cannot  tell,  for  they  have  vanished  into  oblivion ; 


88  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

but  undoubtedly  they  were  intended  to  convince  slave- 
holding  customers  and  traders  that  Illinois  could  be  relied 
upon  to  stem  the  rising  tide  of  anti-slavery  in  the  North. 
As  their  answer  to  these  utterances,  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  Dan  Stone,  the  only  men  who  dared  to  put  them- 
selves on  record  in  this  way,  drew  up  and  signed  the  fol- 
lowing paper : 

"  MARCH  3,  1837. 

"  Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  having 
passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its  present 
session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest  against  the  passage  of 
the  same. 

"  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on 
both  injustice  and  bad  policy,  but  that  the  promulgation  of  ab- 
olition doctrines  tends  rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
no  power  under  the  Constitution  to  interfere  with  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  different  States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  be  exer- 
cised, unless  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  the  District. 

"  The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  contained 
in  the  above  resolutions  is  their  reason  for  entering  this  pro- 
test. 

(Signed)  "  DAN  STONE, 

"  A.  LINCOLN, 
"  Representatives  from  the  county  of  Sangamon." 

This  protest  was  received  and  ordered  to  be  spread  on 
the  journals  of  the  House,  much  to  the  regret  of  some  of 
Lincoln's  more  timorous  friends,  who,  probably  did  not 
believe  that  slavery  could  pass  away  from  the  face  of 


THE  LONG  NINE.  89 

the  land  during  the  time  of  any  then  living.  At  this 
late  day,  the  paper  reads  like  a  very  harmless  and  even 
over-cautious  document.  But  it  was,  for  those  times,  a 
bold  and  dangerous  thing  to  say  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  was  founded  on  injustice  and  bad  policy.  Men 
had  been  mobbed  and  treated  with  violence  for  saying  no 
more  than  this,  so  intolerant  and  brutal  was  the  spirit  of 
the  slave-owning  and  slavery-defending  class.  So  far  as  we 
know,  this  was  Lincoln's  first  blow  at  the  institution  that 
was  bound  to  disappear  before  his  life  and  work  were 
ended. 

On  the  whole,  the  doings  of  Lincoln  and  the  other 
members  of  the  "  the  Long  Nine  "  were  highly  acceptable 
to  the  people  of  Sangamon  County.  The  Lincoln-Stone 
protest  was  looked  upon  as  a  harmless  vagary,  soon  to  be 
forgotten,  and  already  overshadowed  by  the  greatness  of 
the  feat  of  moving  the  State  capital  to  Springfield.  The 
long-limbed  group  was  hailed  with  great  acclaim,  and  nu- 
merous feasts  and  festivities  were  given  in  their  honor. 
Of  the  toasts  offered  in  praise  of  "  the  Sangamon  chief  " 
were  these  that  have  come  down  to  us  from  those  far-off 
days  in  1837:  "Abraham  Lincoln:  he  has  fulfilled  the 
expectations  of  his  friends  and  disappointed  the  hopes  of 
his  enemies."  "  A.  Lincoln  :  one  of  nature's  noblemen." 

In  April,  1837,  Lincoln  went  to  Springfield,  the  new 
capital  of  the  State,  where  he  established  himself  in  the 
practice  of  law,  and  where  he  remained  until  his  elec- 
tion to  the  presidency.  He  had  managed,  crippled 
though  he  was  with  "  the  national  debt,"  to  earn  a  scanty 


90  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

livelihood,  and  to  keep  good  his  credit.  But  the  new 
venture  was  a  doubtful  one,  and  he  undertook  it  with 
many  misgivings.  He  rode  into  town  on  a  borrowed 
horse,  his  earthly  possessions  packed  in  a  pair  of  saddle- 
bags fastened  to  the  crupper  of  his  saddle.  Tying  the 
horse  to  a  fence-post,  Lincoln  sought  the  store  of  his 
friend,  Mr.  Joshua  F.  Speed,  formerly  of  Kentucky,  and 
asked  for  information  concerning  board  and  lodging.  He 
proposed  to  hire  a  room,  furnish  it,  and,  as  he  expressed 
it,  "  browse  around  "  for  his  sustenance.  To  his  great 
dismay,  the  price  of  the  barest  necessaries  in  the  way  of 
furniture  would  cost  seventeen  dollars ;  and  Mr.  Speed 
included  these  articles  in  his  promiscuous  stock-in-trade. 

Lincoln  said,  sadly :  "  It  is  cheap  enough,  but  I  want 
to  say  that,  cheap  as  it  is,  I  have  not  the  money  to  pay 
for  it.  But  if  you  will  credit  me  until  Christmas,  and  my 
experiment  here  is  a  success,  I  will  pay  you  then.  If  I 
fail,  I  will  probably  never  be  able  to  pay  you." 

Impressed  by  Lincoln's  sadness,  Speed  replied  :  "  I  have 
a  very  large  double  bed  which  you  are  perfectly  welcome 
to  share  with  me,  if  you  choose." 

"  Where  is  your  bed?  "  asked  Lincoln. 

"  Up-stairs,"  replied  Speed.  Lincoln  took  his  saddle- 
bags on  his  arm  and  went  up-stairs,  set  them  on  the  floor, 
took  a  swift  survey  of  the  premises,  and  then  came  down 
again,  good-humoredly  laughing,  and  said  :  "  Speed,  I  am 
moved."  And  Lincoln  was  then  settled  in  his  new  quar- 
ters with  his  steadfast  friend,  Mr.  Speed. 

The  new  capital  of  Illinois  was  a  large  village,  its  pop- 


THE   COURT-HOUSE.  91 

ulation  being  about  eighteen  thousand.  It  was  the  coun- 
ty-seat of  Sangamon,  and  the  United  States  Court  for  that 
circuit  was  held  there.  These,  with  the  annual  session  of 
the  Legislature,  imparted  to  the  embryo  metropolis  con- 
siderable importance.  Men  famous  afterwards  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  county,  State,  and  the  republic  were  found 
among  the  assemblies  of  the  citizens.  Some  social  gran- 
deur was  apparent,  and  Lincoln  has  recorded  his  notion 
that  Springfield  was  putting  on  pretensions  to  elegance. 
To  the  shy  son  of  the  Kentucky  backwoods,  doubtless, 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  "  flourishing  about"  among  the 
people  of  the  capital ;  but  we  must  make  allowance  for 
the  fact  that  Springfield,  like  Lincoln,  was  only  just 
emerging  from  the  backwoods.  The  court-house  was 
built  of  logs,  and  this  was  true  of  nearly  all  the  court- 
houses on  the  circuit.  The  judge  sat  at  a  cloth-covered 
table,  behind  a  rail  that  separated  the  awful  majesty  of 
the  bench  from  the  bar  and  people.  The  rest  of  the 
space  was  occupied  by  a  promiscuous  crowd,  and  it  was  a 
very  dull  day  when  the  court-house  audience  did  not 
press  hardly  upon  the  accommodations  allotted  for  clerk, 
bar,  and  official  attendants  at  the  trial.  For  the  court- 
house afforded,  in  those  days  of  few  amusements,  almost 
the  only  in-door  entertainment  of  the  people.  Here  they 
found  tragedy,  comedy,  elocution,  contests  of  wit  and 
logic,  and  all  that  material  for  neighborhood  gossip  that 
is  needed  so  keenly  in  sparsely  settled  communities. 

The  lawyers  rode  horseback  from  court-house  to  court- 
house, trying  cases  and  following  the  presiding  judges  in 


92  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

their  circuit.  Each  limb  of  the  law  carried  with  him,  in 
his  saddle-bags,  a  change  of  raiment,  a  few  law-books,  and 
the  articles  of  use  indispensable  to  the  hard-faring  trav- 
eller. Manners  were  simple,  even  rude,  but  kindly  and 
hospitable.  It  was  on  these  long  jaunts,  travelled  in  com- 
pany with  judges,  witnesses,  and  jurymen,  that  Lincoln 
picked  up  a  vast  proportion  of  the  stories  of  wild  Western 
life  and  manners,  that,  in  after  years,  made  him  famous  as 
an  impromptu  story-teller.  Once,  Lincoln,  having  assisted 
the  prosecuting  attorney  in  the  trial  of  a  man  who  had  ap- 
propriated some  of  the  tenants  of  his  neighbor's  chicken- 
house,  fell  in,  next  day,  jogging  along  the  highway,  with 
the  foreman  of  the  jury  who  had  convicted  the  hen- 
stealer.  The  man  complimented  Lincoln  on  the  zeal  and 
ability  of  the  prosecution,  and  remarked  :  "  Why,  when  the 
country  was  young  and  I  was  stronger  than  I  am  now,  I 
did  n't  mind  backing  off  a  sheep  now  and  again.  But 
stealing  hens ! "  The  good  man's  scorn  could  not  find 
words  to  express  his  opinion  of  a  man  who  would  steal 
hens. 

On  another  occasion,  while  riding  the  circuit,  Lincoln 
was  missed  from  the  party,  having  loitered,  apparently, 
near  a  thicket  of  wild  plum-trees  where  the  cavalcade  had 
stopped  to  water  their  steeds.  One  of  the  company, 
coming  up  with  the  others,  reported,  in  answer  to  ques- 
tions: "When  I  saw  him  last,  he  had  caught  two  young 
birds  that  the  wind  had  blown  out  of  their  nest,  and  was 
hunting  for  the  nest  to  put  them  back."  The  men  rallied 
Lincoln  on  his  tender-heartedness,  when  he  caught  up 


A   FULL-FLEDGED   LAWYER.  93 

with  them.  But  he  said:  "  I  could  not  have  slept  unless 
I  had  restored  those  little  birds  to  their  mother." 

Lincoln  formed  a  law  partnership  with  John  T.  Stuart, 
of  Springfield,  in  April,  1837,  and  this  relation  continued 
until  April,  1841,  when  Lincoln  associated  himself  in 
business  with  Stephen  T.  Logan.  This  partnership  was 
dissolved  in  September,  1843,  when  the  law  firm  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  William  H.  Herndon  was  formed,  and 
this  co-partnership  was  not  dissolved  until  the  death  of 
Lincoln,  in  1865. 

As  a  lawyer,  Lincoln  soon  proved  that  the  qualities 
that  had  won  him  the  title  of  honest  Abe  Lincoln, 
when  he  was  a  store-keeper,  still  stuck  to  him.  He  was 
an  honest  lawyer  ;  he  never  undertook  a  case  of  doubtful 
morality.  If  it  was  a  criminal  whom  he  was  defending, 
and  he  became  convinced  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  he 
lost  all  heart  in  the  case.  No  fee,  no  expectation  of 
winning  fame  for  his  shrewdness,  would  induce  him  to 
undertake  a  suit  in  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  resort 
to  quibbles  and  nice  little  tricks  to  win.  Perhaps  there 
was  less  of  that  sort  of  legal  management  in  those  days 
than  now.  But  he  certainly  never  did  resort  to  it.  And, 
as  those  who  practised  at  the  bar  when  he  did  have  left 
this  record  of  him,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  thought  to  be 
peculiar,  different  from  the  rest  of  his  associates.  There 
were  men  of  ability  and  skill  in  the  circuit  in  those  days. 
Some  of  them  became  famous  in  later  years.  .  Among 
these  were  Lyman  Trumbull,  afterwards  United  States 
Senator  from  Illinois;  O.  H.  Browning,  Senator,  and  Sec- 


94  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

retary  of  the  Interior  under  Lincoln's  administration  ; 
W.  H.  Bissell,  Representative  in  Congress,  and  Governor 
of  the  State ;  David  Davis,  Senator,  Acting  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  also  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  ;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Senator,  and  a  can- 
didate for  the  presidency.  So  far  as  we  know,  none  of 
these  men,  afterwards  eminent  in  their  time,  had  any  ex- 
pectation of  their  future  successes  in  public  life.  But  the 
modest  Lincoln  was  in  training  for  his  exalted  station : 
and  it  is  worth  while  to  note  here  that  his  associations 
were  those  that  inspired  and  lifted  him  up,  not  dragged 
him  down.  It  is  likely  that  he  regarded  those  about  him 
with  a  respect  akin  to  awe,  and  that  he  never  hoped  at 
that  time  to  be  equal  to  them  in  reputation.  How  they 
regarded  him,  it  is  not  necessary  to  inquire,  except  to 
know  that  nobody  ever  thought  that  he  would,  in  time, 
distance  them  all  in  the  race  for  distinction.  He  deter- 
mined to  excel,  not  to  out-strip  any  body ;  to  do  his  best, 
leaving  the  results  to  God.  Long  after  he  had  become 
President,  he  said  that  the  true  rule  of  life  was  to  do  one's 
"  level  best,"  leaving  the  rest  to  take  care  of  itself.  He 
believed  that  the  best  preparation  for  the  duties  of  to- 
morrow was  the  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of 
to-day. 

When  we  look  at  what  young  Lincoln  had  accomplished 
at  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  we  shall  see  that  he 
had  already  begun  to  evince  great  talent,  although  he 
may  not  have  been  a  man  of  mark.  For  example,  in 
1837,  when  he  was  not  yet  twenty-eight  years  old,  he  was 


OUR  REVOLUTIONARY  ANCESTORS.  95 

asked  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  an  association  of  young 
men  in  Springfield.  He  chose  for  his  theme  "  the  perpet- 
uation of  our  political  institutions,"  rather  an  ambitious 
topic,  one  might  say.  But  it  was  not  a  crude  effort. 
Considering  that  it  was  the  work  of  a  self-taught  man, 
who  had  never  seen  the  inside  of  a  college,  it  was  remark- 
able as  a  piece  of  literary  composition.  It  was  the  address 
of  a  thinking  man,  an  ardent  and  devoted  patriot.  In  order 
that  the  reader  may  have  some  notion  of  the  earlier  be- 
ginnings of  Lincoln's  statesmanship,  one  extract  from 
this  speech  is  subjoined.  Alluding  to  our  Revolutionary 
ancestors,  he  said : 

"  In  history,  we  hope,  they  will  be  read  of,  and  recounted 
so  long  as  the  Bible  shall  be  read.  Bnt  even  granting  that 
they  will,  their  influence  cannot  be  what  it  heretofore  has  been. 
Even  then,  they  cannot  be  so  universally  known  nor  so  vividly 
felt  as  they  were  by  the  generation  just  gone  to  rest.  At  the 
close  of  that  struggle,  nearly  every  adult  male  had  been  a  par- 
ticipator in  some  of  its  scenes. 

"  The  consequence  was,  that  of  those  scenes,  in  the  form  of 
a  husband,  a  father,  a  son,  or  a  brother,  a  living  history  was  to 
be  found  in  every  family — a  history  bearing  the  indubitable 
testimonies  to  its  own  authenticity  in  the  limbs  mangled,  in 
the  scars  of  wounds  received  in  the  midst  of  the  very  scene 
related  ;  a  history,  too,  that  could  be  read  and  understood 
alike  by  all,  the  wise  and  the  ignorant,  the  learned  and  the 
unlearned.  But  those  histories  are  gone  They  can  be  read 
no  more  forever.  They  were  a  fortress  of  strength  ;  but  what 
the  invading  foeman  could  never  do,  the  silent  artillery  of  that 
time  has  done — the  levelling  of  its  walls.  They  are  gone. 
They  were  a  forest  of  giant  oaks  ;  but  the  resistless  hurri- 
cane has  swept  over  them  and  left  only,  here  and  there  a 


96  -THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

lonely  trunk  despoiled  of  its  verdure,  shorn  of  its  foliage  ;  un- 
shading  and  unshaded,  to  murmur  in  a  few  more  gentle 
breezes  and  to  combat  with  its  mutilated  limbs  a  few  more 
ruder  storms,  then  to  sink  and  be  no  more." 

A  little  later,  in  1839,  there  was  a  remarkable  debate 
in  the  Illinois  Legislature,  in  which  the  Democratic  dis- 
putants were  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  John  Calhoun,  Josiah 
Lamborn,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas.  The  Whig  speakers 
were  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Edward  D.  Baker,  Orville  H. 
Browning,  and  Abraham  Lincoln.  All  of  these  men  were 
conspicuous  figures  in  Illinois  politics,  and  most  of  them 
became  celebrated  throughout  the  country,  in  after  years. 
During  the  debate,  one  of  the  speakers  taunted  the  other 
side  with  the  hopelessness  of  their  cause  and  the  fewness 
of  their  numbers.  In  replying  to  him,  Lincoln  said  :  "Ad- 
dress that  argument  to  cowards  and  knaves.  With  the 
free  and  the  brave  it  will  affect  nothing.  It  may  be  true ; 
if  it  must,  let  it.  Many  free  countries  have  lost  their 
liberty,  and  ours  may  lose  hers ;  but,  if  she  shall,  let  it  be 
my  proudest  plume,  not  that  I  was  the  last  to  desert,  but 
that  I  never  deserted  her." 

Martin  Van  Buren  was  then  President,  and  all  who 
opposed  his  administration  were  denounced  and  perse- 
cuted with  a  virulence  unknown  in  these  more  liberal 
days.  Alluding  to  this  Lincoln  said  :  "  Bow  to  it  I  never 
will.  Here,  before  heaven,  and  in  the  face  of  the  world, 
I  swear  eternal  fidelity  to  the  just  cause  of  the  land  of 
my  life,  my  liberty,  and  my  love.  .  .  .  The  cause 
approved  of  by  our  judgment  and  our  hearts,  in  disaster,  in 
chains,  in  death,  we  never  faltered  in  defending." 


LINCOLN  AS  A  HARRISON  MAN.  97 

In  1840,  the  country  was  deeply  stirred  by  the  presi- 
dential campaign  of  that  year.  Martin  Van  Buren  was 
nominated  by  the  Democrats,  and  General  William  H. 
Harrison  by  the  Whigs.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  presi- 
dential electors  on  the  Harrison  ticket,  and  he  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  canvass,  making  speeches  and  going 
on  long  expeditions  for  the  sake  of  his  candidate.  Har- 
rison lived  in  Ohio,  where  he  had  been  one  of  the  earlier 
pioneers.  The  dwelling  of  the  pioneer,  of  course,  was  a 
log-cabin  ;  his  favorite  drink  was  supposed  to  be  "  hard  " 
or  sour,  fermented  apple-cider.  In  a  very  short  time,  the 
Harrison  campaign  became  "  the  log-cabin  and  hard-cider 
campaign."  Even  in  the  staid,  old-fashioned  cities  and 
towns  of  the  Eastern  States,  log-cabins  were  built  for 
rallying-places.  Barrels  of  hard-cider  were  kept  on  tap, 
and,  instead  of  the  customary  tin  cup  for  drinking  pur- 
poses, gourds  were  ostentatiously  hung  out.  Coon-skins 
were  nailed  on  the  outer  walls  of  these  symbolic  log-cabins. 
In  some  places,  extravagant  expedients  were  resorted 
to  in  order  to  rouse  public  enthusiasm.  In  Boston,  for 
example,  a  huge  ball  was  made  by  covering  a  wood  frame- 
work, some  fifty  feet  in  circumference,  with  painted  cloth  ; 
and  on  the  ends  was  lettered  the  legend,  "  This  is  the  ball 
that  is  rolling  on."  The  novel  device  was  rolled  through 
the  streets  of  the  city,  on  the  occasion  of  a  log-cabin 
parade,  the  big  ball  being  guided  by  ropes  hitched  to  its 
axis.  Campaign  songsters,  flags,  and  all  sorts  of  inven- 
tions to  stir  up  the  people,  were  scattered  broadcast  all 
over  the  country. 


98  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  threw  himself,  heart  and  soul,  into  this  extra- 
ordinary and  memorable  canvass.  At  a  great  meeting  in 
Springfield,  Edward  Baker,  Lincoln's  close  friend,  was 
speaking  in  a  large  room  next  below  the  floor  on  which 
Lincoln's  office  was.  A  trap-door,  once  used  for  ventila- 
ting purposes,  was  cut  in  the  ceiling  over  the  spot  where 
the  speaker  stood.  Lincoln  raised  this  slightly  and  listened 
to  Baker's  harangue.  Presently,  Baker,  losing  his  temper, 
assailed  the  Democrats  very  hotly,  and,  as  some  of  these 
were  present,  they  made  a  rush  for  the  speaker,  crying : 
"  Pull  him  off  the  platform  !  "  To  their  intense  surprise, 
the  trap-door  was  lifted,  and  Lincoln's  large  feet,  well- 
known  by  their  proportions,  appeared  ;  then  his  legs,  and 
finally  his  body,  slid  down,  and  the  tall  son  of  the  back- 
woods stood  defiantly  by  the  side  of  Baker.  Quieting 
the  rising  tide  by  a  wave  of  his  hand,  Lincoln  said ; 
"  Gentlemen,  let  us  not  disgrace  the  age  and  country  in 
which  we  live.  This  is  a  land  where  freedom  of  speech  is 
guaranteed.  Baker  has  a  right  to  speak,  and  a  right  to  be 
permitted  to  do  so.  I  am  here  to  protect  him,  and  no 
man  shall  take  him  from  this  stand  if  I  can  prevent  it." 
Lincoln  had  sufficient  reputation  for  courage  and  muscle, 
as  well  as  for  fairness,  to  warrant  that  Baker  should  have 
no  further  interruption. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WINNING   HIS   WAY. 

His  First  Love  Affair — A  Disappointment — Dark  Days — The  Lincoln- 
Shields  "  Duel  " — Good  Advice  on  the  Subject  of  Quarrelling — Lincoln 
and  Van  Buren — A  Roadside  Symposium — Congressional  Expectations. 

WHILE  Lincoln  was  living  in  New  Salem,  he  became 
tenderly  attached  to  a  young  lady  of  that  village, 
Miss  Ann  Rutledge.  It  is  not  known  that  the  pair  were 
ever  engaged  to  be  married,  but  it  is  known  that  a  very 
cordial  affection  existed  between  the  twain.  At  that  time, 
Lincoln,  who  was  ever  looking  on  the  dark  and  practical 
side  of  life,  was  in  no  condition  to  marry;  he  was  not  only 
poor,  but  was  burdened  with  debts,  and  with  a  very  un- 
certain future  before  him.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  he 
would  have  engaged  himself  to  marry  while  his  prospects 
in  life  were  so  very  dim  and  discouraging.  But  Miss 
Rutledge  died  suddenly,  and  while  yet  in  the  bloom  of 
youth.  This  sad  event  impressed  Lincoln  with  the  deepest 
melancholy,  and  it  is  said  that  he  never  was  as  cheerful 
afterwards.  To  the  day  of  his  death,  it  is  likely,  the  tak- 
ing out  of  life  of  Ann  Rutledge,  who  seems  to  have  been 
cut  down  most  untimely,  was  to  Lincoln  a  forcible  lesson 
of  the  vanity  of  human  expectations.  It  was  at  this  time, 

99 


IOO  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

so  far  as  we  know,  that  an  old  poem,  beginning  with  the 
line — 

"  Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ?  " 

greatly  impressed  him  with  its  sadness  and  pathetic  re- 
minders of  death,  decay,  and  disappointment.  The  poem 
sunk  insensibly  into  his  memory,  and  it  was  a  favorite 
with  him  ever  after. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Lincoln  was  ever  what  is  called 
"  a  lady's  man."  He  delighted  in  the  society  and  conver- 
sation of  cultivated  and  sprightly  women,  always,  but  he 
was  not  greatly  addicted  to  such  society  when  a  young 
man  making  his  way  in  the  world.  He  was  obliged  to 
live  laborious  days,  and  sit  up  far  into  the  night  pursuing 
his  studies,  his  reading,  his  course  of  thought.  But  in 
1840  there  came  to  Springfield  from  Kentucky  his  des- 
tiny in  the  person  of  Miss  Mary  Todd.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  Todd.  It  was  one  of  her  relatives,  John 
Todd,  who  gave  name  to  Lexington,  Kentucky.  When 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  John  Todd  was  en- 
camped hard  by  the  site  of  the  present  city,  he  heard 
from  the  far  east  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and 
he  bestowed  on  the  settlement  yet  unborn  the  title  it 
wears  unto  this  day.  The  Todd  family  was  one  of  an- 
cient and  honorable  standing  in  Kentucky.  Mary  Todd's 
sister  was  the  wife  of  Ninian  VV.  Edwards,  a  man  of  sub- 
stance in  Springfield,  and  it  was  to  visit  her  that  Miss 
Todd  had  reached  the  Illinois  capital. 

Mary  Todd  was  courted  and   flattered  by  the  young 


A   DISAPPOINTMENT.  IOI 

men  of  Springfield,  and  as  the  young  ladies  of  those  days 
were  more  interested  in  politics  than  many  of  the  present 
age,  she  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, then  regarded  as  a  rising  man.  It  will  never  be 
known  just  how  a  matrimonial  engagement  between  Lin- 
coln and  Miss  Todd  became  settled  and  then  unsettled. 
It  may  be  sufficient  for  us  to  know  that  after  the  engage- 
ment was  fixed,  there  was  a  misunderstanding  betwixt  the 
two,  and  that  Lincoln  released  the  young  lady  from  the 
engagement,  and  that  she  declined  to  be  released.  Im- 
mediately after,  he  fell  into  a  state  of  the  most  profound 
melancholy.  He  was  tortured  with  the  idea  that  he 
might  have  been  bound  by  other  obligations,  or  that  he 
was  not  wholly  a  free  man.  Certain  it  is  that  he  was  so 
affected  by  what  seems  to  have  been  a  needless  remorse, 
that  his  mind  was  in  danger  of  being  unsettled.  In  this 
pitiable  plight,  his  friend,  Joshua  F.  Speed,  who  had 
closed  out  his  business  in  Springfield,  returned  to  Ken- 
tucky, taking  Lincoln  with  him.  There,  in  the  restful 
quiet  of  the  Speed  mansion,  Lincoln  recovered  his  mental 
health  and  vigor,  and  then  returned  to  Springfield. 

At  that  time  a  well-known  character  in  the  city  was 
James  Shields,  a  brisk  and  hot-headed  young  man  from 
the  County  Tyrone,  Ireland.  Shields  was  an  active 
Democrat,  ever  dipping  into  all  sorts  of  adventures,  and  he 
had  lately  been  elected  State  Auditor,  an  office  of  some 
importance,  with  a  good  income  attached  to  it.  Lincoln 
anonymously  printed  in  the  Sangamon  Journal  a  witt) 
letter  purporting  to  come  from  "  The  Lost  Townships,' 


102  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

in  which  the  writer,  who  pretended  to  be  a  widow  with 
political  ideas  in  her  head,  bewailed  the  hard  times  and  the 
evil  results  of  Democratic  rule.  In  that  letter  some  satiri- 
cal allusions  were  made  to  the  heady  young  Democratic 
Auditor,  who  was  a  fair  mark  for  ridicule,  as  he  was  most 
sensitive,  as  well  as  of  a  fiery  disposition.  Shields  was 
frantic  with  rage.  He  vapored  through  the  town,  threat- 
ening death  and  destruction  to  the  unknown  author  of  the 
satire.  The  shot  was  followed  by  another,  in  which  the 
widow  of  "  The  Lost  Townships  "  offered  to  square  mat- 
ters by  marrying  Shields.  These  two  letters,  which  were 
the  talk  of  the  town,  so  tickled  the  fancy  of  Miss  Todd 
and  another  young  lady,  that  they  concocted  a  series  of 
lampoons,  verses,  and  skits,  all  of  which,  like  the  little 
barbed  weapons  flung  by  a  bull-fighter,  were  designed  to 
infuriate  the  rearing  and  plunging  Shields.  In  a  rage,  he 
went  to  the  editor  of  the  journal,  and  demanded  to  know 
the  name  of  the  author  of  these  attacks.  The  editor,  in 
great  distress  of  mind,  applied  to  Lincoln  for  advice. 
Shields  would  fight.  The  editor  would  not  fight.  Lin- 
coln told  him  to  say  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  respon- 
sible for  the  whole  business  from  first  to  last.  Being  so 
informed,  Shields  challenged  Lincoln  to  mortal  combat. 
Lincoln  accepted. 

In  those  days,  and  in  those  regions,  duelling  was  not 
only  common,  but  it  was  very  highly  thought  of  as  a 
means  of  setting  a  man  right  when  his  honor  had  been 
assailed  before  the  community.  It  seems  strange,  now, 
to  think  that  Lincoln  could  have  accepted  a  challenge  to 


THE  LINCOLN-SHIELDS  "DUEL."  103 

fight  a  duel.  But  it  was  the  custom  of  the  country,  al- 
though contrary  to  the  laws.  And  perhaps  Lincoln  felt 
that  there  would  be  no  duel.  Shields  was  a  famous 
boaster.  He  and  his  friends  made  great  ado  about  the 
coming  duel,  so  that  the  affair  was  very  widely  advertised. 
Lincoln,  being  the  challenged  party,  had  the  choice  of 
weapons,  and  he  chose  "  cavalry  broadswords  of  the 
largest  size."  If  he  had  really  desired  to  hew  down 
Shields,  he  might  have  done  so,  for,  in  his  stout  hands 
and  with  his  long  arms,  he  could  have  mowed  down  any 
man  of  ordinary  build  before  he  could  have  got  near 
Lincoln.  But  the  fight  did  not  come  off.  At  the  last 
moment,  Shields  was  ready  to  accept  from  Lincoln  the 
explanation  that  the  letters  from  "  The  Lost  Townships  " 
were  only  intended  for  political  effect  and  not  to  reflect 
on  the  personal  character  of  Mr.  Shields.  Lincoln  was 
no  wrangler,  and  it  is  very  likely  that  he  was  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  this  unseemly  quarrel,  the  first  and  the  last  of 
the  sort  that  he  ever  had  ;  and,  if  he  could  have  escaped 
from  the  duel  without  degradation,  he  would  have  done 
so.  It  ended  without  humiliation  to  him  except  so 
far  as  he  felt  humbled  by  having  been  drawn  into  a  silly 
fracas  in  which  nobody  could  gain  any  credit  to  himself. 
Curiously  enough,  the  seconds  in  this  bloodless  affair  fell 
into  a  wordy  quarrel,  and  a  vigorous  correspondence, 
which  at  one  time  threatened  to  result  in  a  real  duel,  was 
kept  up  for  several  weeks  after  the  famous  "  Lincoln  and 
Shields  duel  "  was  declared  "  off."  But  nothing  serious 
came  of  this  after-clap.  Years  after,  when  he  was  Presi- 


104  THE   LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

dent  of  the  republic,  Lincoln  had  occasion  to  reprimand 
a  young  officer  of  the  army  who  had  been  brought  before 
a  court-martial  for  a  quarrel  with  a  brother  officer.  Pos- 
sibly, these  words,  addressed  to  the  culprit,  may  have 
been  suggested  by  his  own  unwelcome  experience  : 

"  The  advice  of  a  father  to  his  son,  '  Beware  of  entrance  to 
a  quarrel,  but  being  in,  bear  it  that  the  opposed  may  beware  of 
thee  !  '  is  good,  but  not  the  best.  Quarrel  not  at  all.  No  man 
resolved  to  make  ihe  most  of  himself  can  spare  time  for  per- 
sonal contention.  Still  less  can  he  afford  to  take  all  the  con- 
sequences, including  the  vitiating  of  his  temper  and  the  loss 
of  self-control.  Yield  larger  things  to  which  you  can  show  no 
more  than  equal  right  ;  and  yield  lesser  ones  though  clearly 
your  own.  Better  give  your  path  to  a  dog  than  be  bitten  by 
him  in  contesting  for  the  right.  Even  killing  the  dog  would 
not  cure  the  bite." 

But,  out  of  the  Shields  affair,  we  may  understand,  is- 
sued the  marriage  of  Lincoln  and  Miss  Todd.  The  young 
lady  was  bright,  vivacious,  and  roguish.  Her  knight  had 
shown  his  readiness  to  fight  for  her,  although,  with  genu- 
ine Kentucky  spirit,  she  had  declared  her  own  willingness 
to  cross  weapons  with  the  redoubtable  young  Irishman,  if 
need  be.  The  paper  duel  took  place  late  in  September ; 
the  young  couple  were  married  November  4,  1840.  The 
newly  married  pair  took  lodgings  in  the  Globe  Tavern,  a 
well-known  and  modest  boarding-place  not  far  from  the 
State-House.  In  a  letter  written  to  a  friend,  about  this 
time,  Lincoln  speaks  of  his  happiness  in  the  married  state, 
of  his  comforts,  and  of  the  cheapness  of  their  living, 
which,  he  says,  "  is  only  four  dollars  a  week  for  board 


"  LOCO-FOCOS."  105 

and  lodging."  On  these  modest  terms  did  the  future 
President  begin  married  life.  .Mrs.  Lincoln  was  indeed  a 
helpmate.  Her  good  management  and  thoughtfulness 
admirably  supplemented  her  husband's  unworldly  absent- 
mindedness.  They  were  always  what  some  people  call 
"  an  old-fashioned  couple,"  content  with  each  other,  a  de- 
voted husband  and  wife,  to  the  end  of  their  life  together. 
To  Lincoln's  inexpressible  satisfaction,  Harrison  was 
elected  in  1840.  The  hard  cider  and  log-cabin  campaign 
was  not  fought  through,  however,  without  many  a  hard 
struggle.  The  Democrats  were  overwhelmed  at  last. 
The  Whigs,  after  their  long  exclusion  from  power,  were 
correspondingly  elated.  It  was  during  this  canvass  that 
the  old  term  of  derision,  "  Loco-Foco,"  was  again  applied 
to  the  Democrats.  In  1834,  so  runs  the  tale,  a  party  of 
Democratic  agitators  were  assembled  in  Tammany  Hall, 
New  York,  resolved  on  some  very  high-handed  political 
measure.  The  more  moderate,  after  vainly  attempting  to 
stem  the  tide,  turned  off  the  gas,  all  at  once.  In  those 
days,  friction  matches  were  a  new  invention  and  were 
called  "  Loco-Foco  matches,"  probably  from  the  Latin, 
locofoco,  in  lieu  of  fire.  Those  who  were  in  favor  of  ex- 
treme measures  drew  their  "  Loco-Focos "  from  their 
pockets,  relighted  the  gas,  and  the  radicals  carried  their 
point.  From  this,  the  term  Loco-Foco  spread  all  over 
the  country ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Mr.  Lincoln, 
clinging  as  he  did  to  old-fashioned  phrases,  frequently, 
even  during  the  civil  war,  referred  to  Democrats  by  their 
old  name  of  Loco-Focos. 


106  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

The  log-cabin  campaign  having  terminated  to  Lincoln's 
satisfaction,  he  spent  the  winter  of  his  first  year  of  mar- 
riage very  happily,  as  well  as  very  busily.  Yet  he  found 
time  to  write  an  occasional  newspaper  article  on  the  grow- 
ing power  of  the  political  South,  and,  later  on,  to  compose 
and  deliver  a  very  excellent  temperance  address.  About 
this  time,  too,  possibly  this  very  winter,  he  wrote  a  lecture 
for  a  lyceum,  designed  to  show  that  there  was  nothing 
new  under  the  sun,  that  every  thing  that  was  claimed  as  a 
new  invention  had  existed  at  some  period,  possibly  very 
remote,  in  the  history  of  the  world.  This  lecture  was  not 
intended  to  be  taken  in  cold-blooded  earnest,  but  as  a  bit 
of  pleasantry,  mixed  with  much  sober  fact.  The  temper- 
ance address,  however,  was  a  serious  composition.  Lin- 
coln never,  even  to  the  day  of  his  death,  could  be  per- 
suaded to  partake  of  spirits  or  wine.  He  set  out  in  life, 
surrounded  by  drunkards  and  moderate  tipplers,  deter- 
mined that  he  would  resist  the  temptation  to  drink  of 
these  insidious  beverages.  He  made  no  promises,  but, 
after  a  few  years  of  manhood  (as  he  used  to  say),  when 
his  associates  had  become  accustomed  to  his  abstemious 
habits,  he  had  neither  temptation  nor  desire  to  drink. 
That  part  of  Lincoln's  lecture  which  was  delivered  in  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Springfield,  February  22, 
1842,  that  refers  to  the  drinking  usages  of  society,  is  in- 
teresting. He  said  : 

"  Let  us  see.  I  have  not  inquired  at  what  period  of  time  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors  commenced  ;  nor  is  it  important  to 
know.  It  is  sufficient  that  to  all  of  us  who  now  inhabit  the 


IO8  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

world,  the  practice  of  drinking  them  is  just  as  old  as  the  world 
itself — that  is,  we  have  seen  the  one  just  as  long  as  we  have 
seen  the  other.  When  all  such  of  us  as  have  now  reached  the 
years  of  maturity  first  opened  our  eyes  upon  the  stage  of  exist- 
ence, we  found  intoxicating  liquor  recognized  by  everybody, 
used  by  everybody,  repudiated  by  nobody.  It  commonly 
entered  into  the  first  draught  of  the  infant,  and  the  last  draught 
of  the  dying  man.  From  the  sideboard  of  the  parson  down 
to  the  ragged  pocket  of  the  homeless  loafer,  it  was  constantly 
found.  Physicians  prescribed  it  in  this,  that,  and  the  other 
disease  ;  government  provided  it  for  soldiers  and  sailors ;  and 
to  have  a  rolling  or  raising,  a  husking  or  '  hoe-down '  any- 
where about  without  it  was  positively  insufferable.  So,  too,  it  was 
everywhere  a  respectable  article  of  manufacture  and  merchan- 
dise. The  making  of  it  was  regarded  as  an  honorable  liveli- 
hood, and  he  who  could  make  most  was  the  most  enterprising 
and  respectable.  Large  and  small  manufactories  of  it  were 
everywhere  erected,  in  which  all  the  earthly  goods  of  their 
owners  were  invested.  Wagons  drew  it  from  town  to  town  ; 
boats  bore  it  from  clime  to  clime,  and  the  winds  wafted  it  from 
nation  to  nation  ;  and  merchants  bought  and  sold  it,  by  whole- 
sale and  retail,  with  precisely  the  same  feelings,  on  the  part  of 
the  seller,  buyer,  and  bystander,  as  are  felt  at  the  selling  and 
buying  of  plows,  beef,  bacon,  or  any  other  of  the  real  necessi- 
ties of  life.  Universal  public  opinion  not  only  tolerated,  but 
recognized  and  adopted  its  use." 

In  June,  1842,  Lincoln  met  Martin  Van  Buren,  then  out 
of  office.  It  was  the  first  time  that  Lincoln  had  ever  seen 
the  much-hated  Democratic  ex-President,  and  he  was  ac- 
customed to  say,  in  after  years,  that  it  was  no  wonder  that 
Van  Buren's  admirers  called  him  "  the  little  magician," 
for,  according  to  Lincoln,  Van  Buren's  manners  were  so 
affable  and  delightful  that  "  he  could  charm  the  birds  off 


LINCOLN  AND  VAN  BUREN.  109 

the  trees."  But,  if  Lincoln  was  pleased  with  Van  Buren, 
the  ex-President  was  no  less  gratified  by  his  meeting  with 
the  young  Whig  leader  of  Central  Illinois.  Being  weather- 
bound at  a  small  town  not  far  from  Springfield,  the  ex- 
President  was  forced  to  remain  overnight.  Some  of  his 
Springfield  friends,  hearing  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  plight, 
made  up  a  party,  and  taking  with  them  some  refresh- 
ments, left  Springfield  for  the  village  aforementioned. 
Knowing  Lincoln's  good-nature,  as  well  as  his  powers  of 
entertaining,  they  besought  his  assistance  to  lighten  the 
weary  hours  of  the  ex-President's  stay  at  the  wretched  inn, 
where  he  was  detained.  Lincoln,  always  ready  to  do  a 
good  turn,  went  out  with  the  party,  and,  as  it  is  recorded 
by  one  of  the  company,  entertained  the  wayfarers  far  into 
the  night  with  Western  anecdotes,  funny  stories,  and 
graphic  descriptions  of  wild  life  on  the  frontier.  Van 
Buren  was  surprised  and  delighted,  saying  that  "  the  only 
drawback  to  his  enjoyment  was  that  his  sides  were  sore, 
from  laughing  at  Lincoln's  stories,  for  a  week  thereafter." 
The  Democratic  ex-President  and  the  Whig  leader  parted 
on  such  excellent  terms  that  they  ever  after  cherished 
pleasant  recollections  of  that  night. 

Lincoln  had  long  desired  to  go  to  Congress,  but  it  so 
happened  that  his  dearest  friends,  also  Whigs,  were  equal- 
ly anxious  to  go  from  the  district  in  which  they  all  lived. 
This  was  known  as  the  Sangamon  district,  and,  from 
1839  to  1850,  it  was  represented  by  men  of  marked  abili- 
ty. Edward  D.  Baker  was  chosen  in  1843.  He  had  been 
preceded  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  He  was  succeeded 


I  10  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

by  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  the  various  moves  made  to  se- 
cure the  nomination  for  Congress,  Lincoln's  fairness  and 
magnanimity  were  conspicuous.  The  district  was  strongly 
Whig,  and  a  nomination  was  almost  an  election.  But 
Lincoln,  always  preferring  his  friend  before  himself,  loy- 
ally supported  each  of  his  most  intimate  associates,  and 
thought  his  to  be  the  better  claim.  On  one  occasion, 
having  been  a  candidate  for  the  nomination  to  Congress, 
Lincoln  was  elected  as  a  delegate  to  the  nominating  con- 
vention, and  was  instructed  to  vote  for  E.  D.  Baker.  Of 
this  predicament  he  good-naturedly  said :  "  I  shall  be 
fixed  a  good  deal  like  the  fellow  who  is  made  groomsman 
to  the  man  who  cut  him  out  and  is  marrying  his  girl." 
At  this  time,  1842,  John  J.  Hardin  was  nominated  and 
elected.  He  was  one  of  Lincoln's  truest  friends  ;  he  was 
subsequently  killed  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  during 
the  Mexican  War. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   RISING   POLITICIAN. 

Lincoln's  Admiration  of  Henry  Clay — An  Irresponsive  Idol — Slavery  and 
the  Tariff — Lincoln  Elected  to  Congress — The  Mexican  War — A 
Queer  Nickname — Rise  of  the  Free-Soil  Party — Election  of  Gen. 
Taylor — Return  to  Springfield — The  Boys  of  Lincoln — A  Shiftless 
Relative. 

IT  was  said  of  Lincoln  that  he  was  a  born  politician  and 
that,  as  a  political  prophet,  he  made  few  mistakes. 
But  he  was  deeply  and  overwhelmingly  disappointed,  in 
1844,  when  his  idol,  Henry  Clay,  was  defeated  for  the  presi- 
dency by  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee.  For  once,  Lin- 
coln had  no  doubts,  apparently,  as  to  the  success  of  a 
campaign  on  which  he  had  staked  so  great  expectations. 
But  Clay  was  defeated,  and  the  Whigs,  plunged  into  the 
depths  of  grief,  went  to  the  length,  in  some  localities,  of 
wearing  mourning  badges  to  show  the  hopelessness  of 
their  woe.  Clay  was  the  idol  of  those  who  had  supported 
him  for  the  presidency  ;  and  Lincoln,  sincere  as  was  his 
personal  disappointment  and  grief,  was  only  one  of  thou- 
sands who  felt  as  he  did.  The  defeat  was  unexpected,  and 
its  very  unexpectedness  made  it  harder  to  bear.  Long 
after  this,  Lincoln  was  accustomed  to  refer  to  the  defeat 
of  Clay  as  one  of  his  keenest  personal  sorrows. 


112  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

It  is  very  likely,  however,  that  the  edge  of  this  grief, 
was  made  less  sharp  by  Clay's  own  conduct.  In  1846, 
Lincoln,  learning  that  Clay  was  to  speak  in  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  that  place  in  order  that 
he  might  hear  the  voice,  grasp  the  hand,  and  look  in  the 
magnetic  eyes  of  his  adored  leader.  Clay's  speech  was 
on  the  subject  of  colonizing  Africa  with  emancipated 
American  slaves,  an  expedient  then  attracting  much  at- 
tention in  the  republic  as  a  possible  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem of  American  slavery,  now  becoming  more  and  more 
difficult  and  more  than  ever  discussed.  Clay's  speech,  on 
this  occasion,  was  written  out  and  was  read  in  a  cold 
manner,  very  unlike  what  Lincoln  had  expected  of  the 
fiery  and  impetuous  Kentucky  orator.  Lincoln,  who  had 
come  so  far  to  hear  what  was  a  very  commonplace  ad- 
dress, was  disappointed.  Nevertheless,  when  the  meet- 
ing was  dissolved,  he  sought  the  much-wished-for  intro- 
duction to  Clay.  The  Kentuckian,  knowing  how  true  a 
friend  was  the  Illinois  Whig  leader,  invited  him  to  accom- 
pany him  to  Ashland,  the  seat  of  the  Clay  family.  We 
may  imagine  the  elation  with  which  Lincoln  accepted  this 
unexpected  invitation  from  the  object  of  his  worship.  But 
more  disillusion  was  in  store  for  him.  Clay  was  proud, 
distant,  and  haughty  in  his  manner,  and  he  evidently  re- 
garded Lincoln  as  a  clodhopper,  a  rude  backwoodsman, 
whose  personal  affection  for  "  the  great  Whig  chief  "  must 
be  rewarded  by  a  few  curt  words  of  welcome.  He  was 
conceited  in  himself,  impatient  of  suggestions  or  advice 
from  others.  Lincoln  was  humble,  conscious  of  his  own 


ELECTED  TO   CONGRESS.  113 

shortcomings.  Clay  was  sufficient  unto  himself.  Lin- 
coln's invariable  habit  was  to  defer  to  others.  Clay,  in 
the  fulness  of  his  popularity,  accepted  the  deference 
offered  him  as  his  due.  Lincoln  felt  that  his  hero-wor- 
ship was  an  egregious  blunder.  He  went  back  to  Spring- 
field, as  'he  afterwards  expressed  it,  "  with  the  enthusiasm 
all  oozed  out  of  him."  The  man  who  was  to  be  Presi- 
dent had  learned  a  lesson  from  him  who  never  could  be 
President.  It  was  a  lesson  never  forgotten. 

In  1846,  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  Congress,  and  one 
object  of  his  ambition  was  within  reach.  His  competitor 
on  the  Democratic  ticket  was  Peter  Cartwright,  a  back- 
woods preacher  and  exhorter,  famous  in  his  time  for  the 
vigor  with  which  he  pursued  every  topic  to  which  he  ad- 
dressed himself.  It  was  thought  that  Cartwright  would 
poll  a  very  much  larger  vote  than  that  usually  given  to  a 
Democratic  candidate  in  the  district,  possibly  might  be 
elected.  But  Lincoln  astonished  his  opponents  by  the 
fulness  of  his  vote.  His  majority  over  Cartwright  was 
sixteen  hundred  and  eleven,  considerably  more  than  any 
other  Whig  candidate  had  a  right  to  expect. 

When  Lincoln  took  the  "  stump  "  for  himself  in  the 
canvass,  he  had  a  plenty  of  material  for  his  addresses  to 
the  people.  During  the  preceding  winter,  the  new  State 
of  Texas  had  been  admitted  to  the  Union,  a  measure  to 
which  Lincoln,  and  other  Whigs,  was  bitterly  opposed. 
Texas  had  first  seceded  from  Mexico,  and,  after  a  sharp 
war,  had  gained  something  that  was  akin  to  independence. 
At  least,  the  war  was  temporarily  suspended,  according  to 


114  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Mexican  notions  of  the  position  of  affairs,  and  the  new 
State  proposed  to  join  the  family  of  the  United  States. 
After  various  expedients  had  been  tried  without  success, 
the  Democratic  administration  of  the  government  finally 
did  secure  the  annexation  of  Texas.  This  was  done  in 
order  that  a  new  slave  State  might  be  added  to  the  Union. 
The  increase  of  population  in  the  North,  so  much  more 
rapid  than  it  was  in  the  South,  made  it  necessary  that 
something  should  be  done  to  maintain  the  political 
strength  of  the  slave  States.  The  work  of  achieving  the 
independence  of  Texas  was  accomplished  largely  by 
Americans,  and  it  was  felt  that  this  was  only  to  prepare 
the  way  to  bring  the  young  republic  into  the  Union. 
This  suspicion  was  certainty  when  the  Southern  States 
insisted  that  Texas  should  be  brought  into  the  Federal 
Union,  without  delay.  This  was  finally  brought  about, 
and  Mexico,  which  had  agreed  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
for  a  time,  immediately  began  a  war  with  Texas  and  the 
United  States.  This,  and  a  reduction  of  the  tariff  on  im- 
ported goods,  for  which  the  Democrats  were  responsible, 
gave  the  Whigs  ammunition  for  their  political  campaign  ; 
and  we  can  understand  how  vigorously  Lincoln  used  it  in 
his  canvass.  In  fact,  the  encroachments  of  slavery  were 
exciting  alarm  and  uneasiness  among  the  more  thoughtful 
and  observant  of  the  people  of  the  free  States.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, who  apparently  believed  that  slavery  could  not  be 
abolished  without  changing  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  was  as  uneasy  as  any  other  man,  and  his  speeches 
were  all  aimed,  although  indirectly,  at  that  power. 


LINCOLN  IN  CONGRESS.  11$ 

The  Congress  to  which  Lincoln  was  elected  was  the 
Thirtieth,  and  Lincoln  took  his  seat  in  it,  December  6, 
1847.  He  was  very  much  at  home  there,  for  he  had  then 
been  repeatedly  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  had 
"stumped  "  Illinois  from  one  end  to  the  other,  had  made 
a  great  many  public  speeches,  had  met  all  the  leading 
men  of  that  region,  and  had  been  accustomed  to  hold  his 
own  in  debate.  Add  to  all  this  the  fact  that  he  had,  ever 
since  boyhood,  been  a  diligent,  almost  hungry,  student  of 
political  affairs,  and  had  heard  them  discussed  in  public 
places,  or  had  read  in  the  newspapers,  and  we  shall  see 
that  he  was  no  tyro  in  affairs  that  were  likely  to  come  be- 
fore Congress.  He  was  familiar  with  all  the  great  ques- 
tions, had  debated  them  before  the  people,  and  had  so 
studied  the  history  of  his  country  that  he  knew  all  that 
had  happened  to  lead  up  to  the  crisis  in  which  the  repub- 
lic then  found  itself — with  a  foreign  war  on  its  hands  and 
a  new  State  in  the  Union, — the  admission  of  which  a 
great  many  public  men,  in  and  out  of  Congress  regarded 
as  a  misfortune  to  the  republic.  James  K.  Polk  was 
President  of  the  United  States,  and,  disappointed  by  a 
failure  to  dispose  of  the  Mexican  question  before  he  took 
office,  his  messages  to  Congress  were  designed  to  show 
that  the  war  with  Mexico  was  a  just  one,  and  that  he  had 
been  right  in  all  that  he  had  done  to  make  that  war  in- 
evitable. 

Lincoln's  acute  mind  saw  the  inconsistency  of  the  Presi- 
dent's position,  and,  in  order  to  bring  from  President  Polk, 
if  possible,  a  statement  of  the  facts  on  which  he  had  pre- 


Il6  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

tended  to  base  his  messages,  Lincoln,  as  soon  as  he  had 
fairly  become  used  to  his  seat,  introduced  a  series  of  reso- 
lutions asking  the  President  for  infofmation.  These  reso- 
lutions were  prefaced  by  a  clear  statement  of  the  situa- 
tion, as  it  appeared  to  him,  together  with  sundry  extracts 
from  the  President's  messages  of  that  year,  and  the  year 
next  preceding.  The  aim  of  these  resolutions  will  be  seen 
by  quoting  the  first  three,  as  follows : 

That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  respectfully  re- 
quested to  inform  this  house  : 

First.  Whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens 
was  shed,  as  in  his  messages  declared,  was  or  was  not  within 
the  territory  of  Spain,  at  least  after  the  treaty  of  1819,  until 
the  Mexican  revolution. 

Second.  Whether  this  spot  is  or  is  not  within  the  territory 
which  was  wrested  from  Spain  by  the  revolutionary  govern- 
ment of  Mexico. 

Third.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  a  settlement  of 
people,  which  settlement  has  existed  ever  since  long  before  the 
Texas  revolution  and  until  its  inhabitants  fled  before  the  ap- 
proach of  the  United  States  army. 

The  questions  were  never  answered.  No  answer  was 
probably  expected.  It  was  seen  that  if  the  President  or 
the  President's  friends  should  undertake  to  reply,  and 
admit  the  real  facts,  the  position  taken  by  Mr.  Polk, 
and  those  who  defended  the  war,  would  be  surrendered. 
So,  not  being  able  to  make  answer  to  the  only  Whig  rep- 
resentative from  Illinois,  the  tall  backwoods  lawyer,  they 
contented  themselves  with  giving  him  a  nickname.  As  he 
had  used  the  word  "  spot  "  several  times  in  the  resolutions 


LINCOLN  IN  CONGRESS.  \\J 

and  in  the  speech  that  followed,  he  was  known  for  a  time, 
at  least,  as  "  Spot  Lincoln."  The  speech,  which  was  deliv- 
ered in  the  succeeding  January,  was  a  masterly  one,  re- 
viewing the  causes  of  the  Mexican  war  and  severely 
arraigning  the  administration  for  its  persistence  in  the 
matter  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  thus  involving  the 
country  in  a  bloody  and  causeless  fight  with  Mexico. 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  were  many  eminent 
men  in  Congress  in  those  days.  In  the  Senate  were  Dan- 
iel Webster,  Lewis  Cass,  John  A.  Dix,  Thomas  H.  Ben- 
ton,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Jefferson  Davis,  Stephen  Arnold 
Douglas,  and  other  well-known  statesmen.  In  the  House 
of  Representatives  were  such  men  as  ex-President  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  afterwards  a  member  of 
Lincoln's  cabinet,  John  G.  Palfrey,  Robert  C.  Winthrop, 
Andrew  Johnson,  elected  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States  when  Lincoln  was  chosen  for  his  second  term ; 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  afterwards  Vice-President  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy ;  Robert  Toombs,  the  Southern 
slave-holder  who  promised  to  have  his  slaves  mustered  to 
roll-call  on  Bunker  Hill ;  Howell  Cobb,  afterwards  a  gen- 
eral in  the  rebel  army,  and  many  others  famous  in  the 
stormy  times  then  making  ready  in  the  distance.  In  this 
illustrious  company  of  legislators,  Lincoln  was  recognized 
as  a  man  of  marked  ability.  Speaking  of  him,  long  after- 
wards, Alexander  H.  Stephens  said: 

"  He  always  attracted  and  riveted  the  attention  of  the  House 
when  he  spoke.  His  manner  of  speech,  as  well  as  thought, 
was  original.  He  had  no  model.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 


1 1 8  TffE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN '. 

convictions  and  what  Carlyle  would  have  called  an  earnest 
man.  He  abounded  in  anecdote.  He  illustrated  every  thing 
he  was  talking  about  with  an  anecdote,  always  exceedingly  apt 
and  pointed  ;  and  socially  he  always  kept  his  company  in  a 
roar  of  laughter." 

We  see  that  many  of  the  traits  of  the  pioneer  boy  still 
stuck  to  the  mature  man,  now  in  Congress.  Lincoln 
took  part  in  the  debates  of  the  House  rather  more  fre- 
quently than  most  new  members  did  then,  or  do  in  these 
later  days.  Some  of  his  speeches,  to  be  found  in  the 
printed  record  of  Congress,  show  characteristic  touches  of 
humor.  For  example,  speaking  of  the  attempt  to  make 
a  military  hero  of  General  Lewis  Cass,  who  was  to  be  the 
next  Democratic  candidate  for  President,  and  who  was 
said  to  have  been  an  important  figure  in  a  small  fight  on 
the  Canadian  border,  Lincoln  said,  with  rough  sarcasm : 
"  He  zwvaded  Canada  without  resistance,  and  he  0«/vaded 
without  pursuit."  "  He  was  volunteer  aid  to  General 
Harrison  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  as 
you  said,  in  1840,  that  Harrison  was  picking  whortleber- 
ries, two  miles  off,  while  the  battle  was  fought,  I  suppose 
it  is  a  just  conclusion  with  you  to  say  that  Cass  was  aid- 
ing Harrison  to  pick  whortleberries." 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Lincoln,  while  he  disapproved 
of  the  Mexican  war,  always  voted  to  reward  the  bravery 
of  the  soldiers  who  fought  the  battles  and  who  were  not 
in  any  way  responsible  for  the  war.  Later,  when  he  and 
Douglas  were  holding  a  political  discussion,  Douglas 
reproached  Lincoln  with  being  an  enemy  of  his  country 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  POSITION.  119 

during  the  Mexican  war.  Lincoln  replied  :  "  I  was  an  old 
Whig,  and  when  the  Democratic  party  tried  to  get  me  to 
vote  that  the  war  had  been  righteously  begun  by  the  Presi- 
dent, I  would  not  do  it.  But  when  they  asked  for  money, 
or  land  warrants,  or  any  thing  to  pay  the  soldiers,  I  gave 
the  same  vote  that  Douglas  did."  This  was  true,  but  it 
must  be  admitted  that  Whig  politicians  who  disapproved 
of  the  war,  and  were  compelled  by  public  opinion  to  vote 
for  war  supplies,  had  a  hard  time  of  it.  If  this  was  true 
of  the  Whigs,  Lincoln  showed,  with  great  force  and  caus- 
tic scorn,  that  the  Democratic  President  was  also  in  great 
perplexity.  Speaking  of  the  President's  struggles  to  set 
himself  right,  when  he  knew  that  he  was  wrong,  Lincoln 
said:  "He  knows  not  where  he  is."  "All  this  shows  that 
the  President  is  by  no  means  satisfied  with  his  positions. 
First,  he  takes  up  one,  and,  in  attempting  to  argue  us  into 
it,  he  argues  himself  out  of  it.  Then  he  seizes  another,  and 
goes  through  the  same  process ;  and  then,  confused  at 
being  able  to  think  of  nothing  new,  he  snatches  up  the 
old  one  again,  which  he  has  some  time  before  cast  off. 
His  mind,  tasked  beyond  its  powers,  is  running  hither  and 
thither,  like  some  tortured  thing  on  a  burning  surface, 
finding  no  position  on  which  it  can  settle  down  and  be  at 
ease." 

This  speech  was  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
after  Taylor  had  been  nominated  at  Philadelphia  by  the 
Whigs  in  1848.  Clay  had  been  supported  in  that  conven- 
tion as  a  candidate  more  fit  than  Taylor;  but  Taylor  had 
won  fame  on  the  field  of  Buena  Vista,  during  the  Mexi- 


I2O  THE  LIFE  Of  LINCOLN. 

can  war :  and  he  had  not  been  in  favor  of  carrying  that 
war  forward  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  disputed 
boundary  between  Texas  and  Mexico.  He  was  urged  in 
the  convention  as  the  most  available  man  for  the  nomi- 
nation, and  the  word  "  availability  "  was  repeated  with 
much  scorn  by  Mr.  Clay's  friends  afterwards.  Lincoln 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  convention  that  nominated 
Taylor,  and  he  was  enthusiastically  in  favor  of  "  The 
Hero  of  Buena  Vista,"  as  the  General  was  styled  by  his 
admirers.  General  Taylor's  manners  were  very  blunt, 
and  his  usual  address  was  abrupt.  His  followers  gave 
him  the  title  of  "  Rough  and  Ready,"  and  the  name  was 
used  as  a  battle-cry  all  through  the  campaign.  Indeed, 
the  Whigs  resorted  to  all  the  tricks  and  devices  that  had 
made  the  "Log-Cabin  and  Hard-Cider"  campaign  of 
Harrison  and  Tyler  so  successful.  Lincoln  was  not  only 
enthusiastically  in  favor  of  Taylor's  nomination,  but  he 
was  confident  of  his  election.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
written  a  few  days  after  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  he 
said  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  Whigs  would  have  "  a  most 
overwhelming  and  glorious  triumph,"  and  he  added : 
"  One  unmistakable  sign  is  that  all  the  odds  and  ends  are 
with  us — Barn-Burners,  Native  Americans,  Tyler  men,  dis- 
appointed office-seeking  Loco-Focos,  and  the  Lord  knows 
what.  This  is  important,  if  in  nothing  else,  in  showing 
which  way  the  wind  blows." 

This  queer  list  of  party  factions  shows  how  parties  were 
then  beginning  to  break  up.  The  Barn-Burners  were  the 
anti-slavery  seceders  from  the  Democratic  party  in  New 


RISE   OF  THE  FREE-SOIL  PARTY.  121 

York.  The  Tyler  men  were  those  who  adhered  to  the 
fortunes  and  alleged  principles  of  John  Tyler,  who,  having 
been  elected  Vice-President  with  General  Harrison  by 
the  Whigs,  afterward  became  President  by  the  death  of 
Harrison,  and  then  went  over  to  the  Democratic  party, 
taking  with  him  a  fraction  of  his  own  party.  In  August 
of  that  year,  1848,  the  New  York  anti-slavery  Democrats 
assembled  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  organized  the  Free- 
Soil  party.  It  was  pledged,  not  to  the  abolition  of  sla- 
very, but  to  its  restriction  to  the  territory  it  already  occu- 
pied. The  new  party  was  determined  that  the  soil  of  the 
territories  then  in  existence,  and  thereafter  to  be  acquired, 
should  be  free  ;  that  there  should  be  no  more  slave  labor 
outside  of  the  States  in  which  slavery  existed,  and  that 
every  citizen  of  the  United  States  should  have  full  liberty 
to  speak  his  sentiments  concerning  any  topic  before  the 
people,  even  concerning  slavery.  The  slave-holders  had 
begun  to  suppress  newspapers  that  were  against  slavery, 
and  to  oppress  men  who  dared  to  say  that  slavery  was 
not  right  and  just.  The  battle-cry  of  the  Free  Soilers  in 
that  canvass  was  "  Free  Soil,  Free  Labor,  and  Free 
Speech."  They  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for  Presi- 
dent and  Charles  Francis  Adams  for  Vice-President.  The 
Free  Soilers  of  that  day  included  many  eminent  men, 
some  of  whom  had  come  out  of  the  Democratic  party  on 
account  of  its  cringing  attitude  to  slavery  in  the  United 
States.  Among  the  Free  Soilers  were  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
afterward  Chief-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  ;  Charles  Sumner ;  Henry  Wilson,  afterward 


122  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Senator  from  Massachusetts,  and  then  Vice-President  of 
the  republic ;  William  Cullen  Bryant ;  John  P.  Hale,  then 
and  afterward  a  Senator  from  New-Hampshire  ;  and  many 
others. 

The  Democrats,  meantime,  had  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent Lewis  Cass.  This  gentleman,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
had  a  very  slight  taste  of  war  in  the  skirmish  known  as 
the  battle  of  the  Thames ;  and,  as  the  Whig  candidate 
was  hurrahed  for  as  a  military  hero,  the  Democrats  at- 
tempted very  unsuccessfully  to  give  Cass  a  military  repu- 
tation. The  experiment  failed.  The  slavery  question, 
which  could  not  any  longer  be  kept  down,  was  judiciously 
omitted  from  the  platforms  of  the  Whigs  and  the  Demo- 
crats. The  Free  Soilers  were  sufficiently  outspoken  in 
their  platform  ;  but  we  shall  find  that  the  speakers  of  the 
other  two  parties,  after  all,  were  obliged  to  say  something 
about  the  great  but  much-dreaded  question.  William  H. 
Seward,  afterwards  Senator  and  Secretary  of  State,  said, 
in  a  speech  supporting  Taylor's  candidacy :  "  Freedom 
and  slavery  are  two  antagonistic  elements  of  society  in 
America."  "  The  party  of  freedom  seeks  complete  and 
universal  emancipation."  Daniel  Webster,  who  also  sup- 
ported Taylor,  insisted  that  the  Whigs  were  the  real  Free 
Soilers.  Lincoln  avowed  himself  to  be  "  a  Northern 
man,  or,  rather,  a  Western  Free-State  man,  with  a  con- 
stituency I  believe  to  be,  and  with  personal  feelings  I 
know  to  be,  against  the  extension  of  slavery."  The  con- 
gressional recess  began  in  August,  and  Lincoln  went  im- 
mediately to  New  England,  where  he  took  the  stump  for 


ELECTION  OF  GEN.   TAYLOR.  12$ 

Taylor.  His  speeches  were  characterized  by  their  keenness 
of  analysis,  wit,  humor,  and  unanswerable  logic.  He  was 
in  close  communication  with  the  Whig  leaders  in  Illinois, 
and  continually  wrote  them,  giving  them  advice,  counsel, 
and  hints  for  the  conduct  of  the  campaign.  Some  of 
these  letters  are  very  interesting  as  showing  the  thorough- 
ness of  Lincoln's  methods.  In  a  letter  to  his  partner,  W. 
H.  Herndon,  he  says:  "  Let  every  one  play  the  part  he 
can  play  best.  Some  can  speak,  some  can  sing,  and  all 
can  halloo."  When  he  had  filled  his  engagements  in  New 
England  and  New  York  he  returned  at  once  to  Illinois, 
where  he  threw  himself  into  the  canvass  with  great 
fervor,  speaking  day  and  night  until  the  election,  which 
occurred  in  November,  1848. 

When  the  votes  were  counted,  it  was  found  that  Gen- 
eral Taylor  was  elected,  having  163  electors,  while  Cass 
had  137.  Van  Buren,  not  having  carried  any  one  State, 
had  no  electors.  Of  the  total  number  of  votes  cast  in  all 
the  States,  Taylor  had  1,360,752;  Cass  had  1,219,962; 
Van  Buren  had  291,342.  Great  was  the  joy  of  the  Whigs  ; 
bonfires  and  illuminations  flamed,  and  the  Whig  news- 
papers broke  out  with  cuts,  big  type,  and  other  devices  to 
show  manifest  exultation,  unknown  in  these  days.  There 
was  a  general  feeling  of  satisfaction  all  over  the  North, 
for  it  was  felt  that  the  election  of  Taylor  would,  somehow, 
prevent  the  further  extension  of  slavery.  In  fact,  al- 
though probably  very  few,  except  such  shrewd  politicians 
as  Lincoln,  saw  it,  the  triumph  of  the  Whigs,  assisted  by 
the  Free-Soil  party,  was  making  ready  for  the  formation 


124  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  a  new  party  that  was  to  bring  to  pass  what  none  then 
thought  possible — the  abolition  of  slavery.  It  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  votes  cast  for  Van  Buren  would 
have  elected  Cass  had  they  all  been  given  to  him.  And 
the  bulk  of  those  votes  had  come  out  of  the  Democratic 
party. 

When  Congress  reassembled  in  December  of  that  year, 
after  the  presidential  election,  the  aspect  of  things  was 
materially  changed.  Lincoln  and  other  ardent  Whigs  were 
no  longer  in  a  hopeless  minority  in  the  country,  and  the 
Northern  Democrats,  who  believed  that  they  had  been  sac- 
rificed in  the  interest  of  Southern  slavery,  were  angry  and 
sullen.  They  were  ready  to  wreak  their  spite  on  their 
Southern  Democratic  friends.  One  of  these,  Mr.  Root,  of 
Ohio,  very  soon  introduced  a  resolution  favoring  the  or- 
ganization of  the  new  territories,  California  and  New 
Mexico,  with  constitutions  that  should  exclude  slavery ; 
this  caused  great  uproar.  The  territories  in  question 
had  been  acquired  by  the  treaty  under  which  the  quarrel 
with  Mexico  was  settled  ;  and  it  had  been  hoped  and  ex- 
pected by  the  South  that  slavery  would  be  extended 
there,  as  it  had  been  in  Texas.  When  the  Root  resolu- 
tion came  to  a  vote  in  the  House,  the  Southern  men  were 
solidly  against  it  ;  eight  Northern  Democrats  were  with 
those  of  the  South ;  and  all  the  Whigs  from  the  North 
and  all  the  Northern  Democrats  but  the  eight  referred  to 
voted  for  it.  The  resolution,  however,  got  no  further 
than  the  Senate,  where  it  was  killed  by  the  slavery  ma- 
jority. 


A   BILL  RESTRICTING  SLAVERY.  125 

In  this,  as  in  all  measures  designed  to  cripple  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery,  Lincoln  voted  with  the  friends  of  free- 
dom, although  he  did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the 
debate.  He  seemed  to  be  waiting  and  watching,  after  his 
usual  cautious  fashion.  Later  in  the  session,  he  introduced 
a  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He 
thought  it  a  shame  and  a  disgrace  that  traffic  in  slaves 
should  be  carried  on  right  under  the  shadow  of  the  capi- 
tol  in  which  the  National  Congress  assembled  to  transact 
the  public  business.  And,  like  many  another  Northern 
man,  his  heart  was  stirred  with  indignation  to  see  coffles, 
or  gangs,  of  slaves,  handcuffed  and  linked  in  chains,  pass- 
ing through  the  streets  of  Washington  on  the  way  to 
the  South.  This  was  a  good  time  to  test  the  feeling  of 
the  House  of  Representatives.  His  bill  provided  that  no 
person  from  without  the  District  should  be  held  to  slavery 
in  it  ;  and  that  no  person  hereafter  born  in  the  District 
should  be  held  in  slavery  anywhere.  It  also  provided  for 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves  then  in  the  Dis- 
trict, the  owners  of  the  same  being  paid  for  them  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  The  bill  was  to  be 
voted  on  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  District  before  it 
should  be  a  law.  The  bill  seems  to  us,  in  these  days  of 
enlightenment,  very  moderate.  It  recognized  property  in 
persons,  for  it  provided  that  the  government  should  buy 
and  free  the  slaves.  But  the  bill  was  framed  so  that  it 
might,  if  possible,  pass  Congress,  not  as  an  expression  of 
what  Lincoln  thought  was  just  and  right  to  the  slave  and 
the  slave-holder.  But,  temperate  though  the  bill  was,  it 


126  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

excited  a  storm  of  opposition.  The  Southern  members 
were  determined  that  no  bill  that  was  calculated  to  weaken 
slavery  in  any  way,  or  to  imply  that  slavery  was  not  every 
thing  that  was  lovely  and  of  good  report,  should  ever 
pass  Congress,  if  they  could  help  it.  Lincoln's  bill  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  never  came  to 
a  vote.  Soon  after,  Congress  adjourned  and  Lincoln, 
his  term  of  office  being  out,  went  home  to  Illinois. 
When  he  was  to  return  to  the  national  capital,  twelve 
years  later,  it  would  be  to  remain  until  slavery  was  abol- 
ished from  one  end  of  the  republic  to  the  other. 

Lincoln  was  not  a  candidate  for  reelection.  As  his  was 
the  only  Whig  district  in  the  State,  and  was  full  of  am- 
bitious and  able  men  who  were  Whigs,  it  had  become  the 
custom  of  the  party  to  give  the  office  of  Congress  to  no 
man  twice  in  succession.  Any  man  who  wanted  it  for  a 
second  time  was  thought  greedy.  Edward  D.  Baker  had 
just  returned  from  the  Mexican  war,  covered  with  the 
honors  he  had  gained  on  the  battle-field  of  Cerro  Gordo. 
He  was  nominated  and  elected  to  succeed  Lincoln.  For 
the  first  and  last  time  in  his  life,  Lincoln  became  an  ap- 
plicant to  an  appointive  office.  Taylor  was  now  Presi- 
dent, and,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time,  all  the 
Democrats  were  to  be  turned  out  of  office  and  their  places 
given  to  Whigs,  who  had  done  service  in  the  campaign. 
Lincoln,  with  a  plenty  of  ideas  concerning  public  improve- 
ments and  with  some  experience  as  a  surveyor  of  lands, 
thought  he  would  like  to  be  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  Office,  a  place  in  which  he  would  have 


REFUSES   THE   GOVERNORSHIP   OF  OREGON.       I2/ 

charge  of  the  sale  and  distribution  of  the  lands  belonging 
to  the  United  States  Government.  To  the  surprise  of 
his  friends,  and  to  his  own  great  disappointment,  which 
he  did  not  attempt  to  conceal,  Lincoln  was  refused  the 
office  he  sought,  but  was  offered  that  of  Governor  of  the 
Territory  of  Oregon.  •  This  place,  however,  he  declined. 
It  was  not  to  his  taste,  and,  most  likely,  he  was  beginning 
to  see  that  he  had  a  greater  work  on  this  side  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  Moreover,  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  decidedly 
opposed  to  going  to  the  Pacific  coast.  She  had  had 
enough  of  frontier  life.  Years  afterward,  when  her  hus- 
band had  become  President,  she  did  not  fail  to  remind 
him  that  her  advice,  when  he  was  wavering,  had  restrained 
him  from  "  throwing  himself  away "  on  a  distant  terri- 
torial governorship.  The  bait  held  out  to  Lincoln  at 
that  time  was  that  Oregon  would  soon  come  into  the 
Union  as  a  State  and  that  he  could  probably  return  as 
a  United  States  Senator.  This  glittering  prospect  made 
him  pause  until  his  wife's  opposition  determined  him.  It 
is  a  curious  coincidence  that,  when  Lincoln  was  President, 
Edward  D.  Baker,  who  was  Lincoln's  friend  and  his  suc- 
cessor in  Congress,  went  to  Oregon  from  California  and 
was  elected  United  States  Senator  from  that  State. 

During  Lincoln's  term  in  Congress,  lasting  from  Decem- 
ber, 1847,  to  March,  1849,  ne  retained  his  home  in  Spring- 
field, his  wife  being  in  Washington  with  him  only  on  brief 
visits.  Their  eldest  son,  Robert  Todd,  was  born  August 
i,  1843;  the  second,  Edward  Baker,  was  born  March  10, 
1846;  the  third,  William  Wallace,  December  21,  1850; 


128  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

and  the  fourth,  Thomas,  April  4,  1853.  Of  these,  the 
second  died  in  infancy  ;  the  third  died  while  his  father  was 
President  ;  the  fourth  survived  his  father,  dying  at  the  age 
of  nineteen.  The  eldest,  Robert,  Secretary  of  War  under 
Garfield  and  under  Arthur,  is  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
family.  When  Lincoln  returned  •  to  Springfield  from 
Congress,  he  found  his  law  practice  fallen  away,  so  that, 
to  use  his  own  expression,  he  had  to  begin  all  over  again. 
But  he  had  gained  reputation  during  his  congressional 
term,  and  he  rebuilt  his  practice  with  ready  skill  and  un- 
tiring industry.  He  had  bought  a  house  and  lot  in 
Springfield,  and  there  established  himself  and  his  family 
under  a  roof  of  his  own,  which  he  was  never  to  leave  until 
he  left  it  for  the  last  time,  when  he  went  to  take  up  his 
residence  in  the  White  House  at  Washington.  We  are 
told  that  it  was  a  pleasant  and  sunny  home  where  love 
and  order  reigned.  In  the  society  of  his  children  Lincoln 
took  great  delight.  It  cannot  be  said  that  his  was  a  stern 
rule.  It  was  wellnigh  impossible  for  him  to  exercise  any 
right  of  government  with  his  children.  They  were  pas- 
sionately fond  of  their  father  ;  but  it  must  be  admitted 
that  censorious  visitors  sometimes  went  away  wondering 
why  he  so  "  indulged  "  his  boys.  Perhaps  he  remembered 
his  own  hard  childhood  and  the  scanty  joys  and  comforts 
of  those  dark  years. 

As  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Lincoln's  father,  Thomas  Lincoln, 
was  settled  near  Decatur,  Macon  County,  Illinois,  where 
his  son  Abraham,  assisted  by  Thomas  Hanks,  had  fenced 
in,  with  rails  of  their  own  splitting,  a  small  section  of  a 


130  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

new  farm.  After  Abraham  went  out  to  seek  his  own  for- 
tune, his  father  moved  several  times,  never  long  satisfied 
to  remain  in  one  place.  He  finally  settled  in  "  Goose  Nest 
Prairie,"  a  small  farming  community  in  Coles  County,  Il- 
linois, where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1851,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three.  Whatever  he  had  thought  of  the 
abilities  of  his  son,  who  had  bothered  him  with  his  youth- 
ful habit  of  speech-making  and  his  proclivity  to  "  talking 
politics,"  Thomas  Lincoln  lived  to  see  him  one  of  the 
best-known  men  and  leading  lawyers  of  the  State.  As 
soon  as  he  could  spare  any  thing  from  his  own  earnings, 
after  his  load  of  debt  was  lifted,  Lincoln  helped  his  par- 
ents continually.  He  bought  lands  for  them,  sent  them 
good  gifts,  and  in  many  ways  showed  his  filial  affection  to 
the  end  of  their  stay  on  earth. 

It  may  be  said  here  that  there  were  other  members  of 
the  Lincoln  family  not  holding  so  strong  a  claim  on  Abra- 
ham's generosity,  that  were  helped  by  the  warm-hearted 
man.  John  Johnston,  Abraham's  step-brother,  appears 
to  have  been  an  unthrifty  and  easy-going  person  who 
needed  a  lift,  and  got  it,  now  and  again,  from  the  frugal 
and  not  over-rich  Springfield  lawyer.  In  a  letter  to  John, 
written  about  the  time  when  he  returned  from  Congress, 
Lincoln  said : 

"At  the  various  times  when  I  have  helped  you  a  little, 
you  have  said  to  me,  '  We  can  get  along  very  well  now,' 
but  in  a  short  time  I  find  you  in  the  same  difficulty  again." 
And  in  the  most  friendly  and  affectionate  way  he  went 
on  to  show  how  the  difficulty  was  in  his  unwillingness  to 


A    SHIFTLESS  RELATIVE.  131 

work  for  small  pay,  work  for  small  things,  work  for  what 
could  be  got  then,  rather  than  wait  for  something  better 
to  turn  up.  Later,  in  November,  1851,  Lincoln  wrote  to 
John,  giving  him  much  wholesome  advice,  as  follows  : 

"  DEAR  BROTHER  :  When  I  came  into  Charleston,  day  be- 
for  yesterday,  I  learned  that  you  are  anxious  to  sell  the  land 
where  you  live  and  move  to  Missouri.  I  have  been  thinking 
of  this  ever  since,  and  cannot  but  think  such  a  notion  is  utterly 
foolish.  What  can  you  do  in  Missouri  better  than  here  ?  Is 
the  land  any  richer  ?  Can  you  there,  any  more  than  here, 
raise  corn  and  wheat  and  oats  without  work  ?  Will  anybody 
there,  any  more  than  here,  do  your  work  for  you  ?  If  you  in- 
tend to  go  to  work,  there  is  no  better  place  than  right  where 
you  are  ;  if  you  do  not  intend  to  go  to  work,  you  cannot  get 
along  anywhere.  Squirming  and  crawling  about  from  place  to 
place  can  tio  no  good.  You  have  raised  no  crop  this  year,  and 
what  you  really  want  is  to  sell  the  land,  get  the  money,  and 
spend  it.  Part  with  the  land  you  have,  and,  my  life  upon  it, 
you  will  never  after  own  a  spot  big  enough  to  bury  you  in. 
Half  you  will  get  for  the  land  you  will  spend  in  moving  to 
Missouri,  and  the  other  half  you  will  eat  and  drink  and  wear 
out,  and  no  foot  of  land  will  be  bought.  Now,  I  feel  it  is  my 
duty  to  have  no  hand  in  such  a  piece  of  foolery.  I  feel  that 
it  is  so  even  on  your  own  account,  and  particularly  on  moth- 
er's account.  The  eastern  forty  acres  I  intend  to  keep  for 
mother  while  she  lives.  If  you  wilt  not  cultivate  it,  it  will  rent 
for  enough  to  support  her  ;  at  least  it  will  rent  for  something. 
Her  dower  in  the  other  two  forties  she  can  let  you  have,  and 
no  thanks  to  me.  Now,  do  not  misunderstand  this  letter.  I 
do  not  write  it  in  any  unkindness.  I  write  it  in  order,  if  possi- 
ble, to  get  you  to  face  the  truth,  which  truth  is,  you  are  desti- 
tute because  you  have  idled  away  all  your  time.  Your  thou- 
sand pretences  deceive  nobody  but  yourself.  Go  to  work,  is 
the  only  cure  for  your  case." 


132  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

We  shall  understand  Lincoln  better  from  this  letter  to 
his  step-brother.  It  shows  him  to  be  independent,  self- 
reliant,  and  disposed  to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world 
without  calling  on  others  to  carry  him  along,  as  so  many 
young  men  are  in  the  habit  of  doing.  There  are  other 
letters  extant  that  show  that  Lincoln  had  repeatedly  as- 
sisted this  same  step-brother  ;  and  this  letter  gives  touch- 
ing evidence  of  his  care  and  anxiety  for  his  step-mother. 
None  of  these  were  kin  to  Lincoln,  but  they  were,  all  the 
same,  a  charge  upon  his  generosity  and  affection,  just  as 
though  they  were  of  the  same  blood.  Brought  up  in  a 
hard  school,  Lincoln  was  early  taught  many  practical 
lessons  in  frugality  and  economy ;  but  his  natural  kindli- 
ness and  open-handedness  were  never  spoiled  by  penury 
and  need.  He  never,  so  say  his  contemporaries,  was  able 
to  make  any  money  outside  of  his  profession.  The  only 
possession  he  ever  had  that  was  not  gained  by  sheer  hard 
work  was  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  Iowa,  given  to  him  by 
the  United  States  Government  (as  it  was  to  each  volun- 
teer), for  his  services  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  When  he 
went  to  Washington  to  take  the  presidency,  the  sum  total 
of  all  his  wealth  in  goods,  chattels,  lands,  and  cash  was 
valued  at  a  sum  not  so  great  as  a  single  fee  sometimes  paid 
in  these  later  days  to  a  lawyer  of  the  standing  and  ability 
he  had  at  that  time.  Lincoln  was  thrifty  only  in  the 
sense  of  working  hard  for  what  he  got  and  never  spending 
for  that  which  was  not  absolutely  needful  for  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  those  dependent  upon  him.  Parsimo- 
nious he  never  was. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LINCOLN   THE   LAWYER. 

An  Honest  Advocate  and  Counsellor — The  Snow  Boys  and  Old  Man  Case 
— Famous  Law-Suits  about  Negroes — Jack  Armstrong's  Son  on  Trial 
for  Murder — Lincoln's  Vindication  of  His  Old  Friend — How  the 
Attorney  Looked  and  Spoke. 

MENTION  has  already  been  made  of  Lincoln's  im- 
movable honesty.  This  was  not  only  conspicu- 
ous in  his  dealings  with  men,  but  in  his  course  as  a 
politician  and  a  lawyer.  No  man  more  than  he  ever 
made  so  many  concessions  to  his  opponents  in  a  dis- 
cussion, and  yet  succeeded  in  convincing  those  who  were 
to  be  carried  by  his1  argument,  whether  it  was  a  jury  in  a 
law-case,  or  an  audience  of  the  people  in  a  political  can- 
vass. Sometimes,  those  who  were  with  him  but  did  not, 
perhaps,  understand  his  methods,  were  dismayed  as  they 
heard  him  give  away  point  after  point  in  the  case  that  he 
presented.  Their  surprise,  therefore,  was  very  great  when 
he  began  to  sum  up  and,  by  the  force  of  his  reasoning, 
won  his  suit.  This  was  because  he  knew  his  case  thor- 
oughly ;  he  did  not  wait  until  its  weak  points  were  dis- 
closed by  the  speaker  on  the  other  side.  He  relied  on 
what  lawyers  call  the  equity  of  the  case  that  he  presented 

i33 


134  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

to  the  minds  of  men  ;  and  he  was  sure  to  go  to  the  very 
bottom  of  things  before  he  got  through.  It  was  the  nat- 
ural habit  of  his  mind  to  look  at  the  objections  that 
might  be  found  against  any  given  course  rather  than  to 
the  advantages  and  attractions  of  the  same.  People  who 
knew  him  only  on  the  surface,  as  it  were,  said  that  he 
looked  on  the  dark  side  of  things.  This  was  not  exactly 
true.  He  considered  difficulties,  in  order  that  he  might 
be  prepared  for  failure  and  disappointment.  He  never 
forgot  the  advice  of  Captain  Davy  Crockett :  "  Be  sure 
you  are  right,  then  go  ahead." 

Honest  himself,  he  was  intolerant  of  dishonesty  in 
others ;  and  not  a  few  cases  are  mentioned  of  his  fairly 
blazing  with  wrath  when  he  presented  to  a  jury  the  facts 
which  showed  the  craft  and  wickedness  of  those  who 
would  escape  their  just  deserts.  He  seemed  to  seize 
upon  all  the  salient  points  of  his  opponent's  case,  before 
even  they  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  counsel  for 
the  other  side.  And,  what  was  remarkable,  he  seldom 
appealed  to  the  native  sense  of  justice  which  is  hidden  in 
a  jury,  without  success.  A  good  instance  of  this  was 
shown  in  the  suit  of  an  old  man  named  Case,  brought 
against  "  the  Snow  boys,"  to  recover  the  amount  of  a 
note  given  by  them  for  three  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  "  break- 
ing plough."  This  team  was  used  for  breaking  up  the 
soil  of  the  virgin  prairie  and  was  absolutely  needful  as 
part  of  the  outfit  of  a  prairie  farmer,  in  those  days.  The 
Snow  boys  were  not  of  age.  They  had  bought  the  team 
and  had  given  their  note  for  the  amount  of  the  purchase 


THE   SNOW  BOYS  AND   OLD  MAN  CASE.  135 

money,  and,  being  unable  to  pay  when  the  note  became 
due,  they  were  sued  for  the  money.  Their  counsel  ap- 
peared in  court  and  set  up  the  plea  that  the  defendants 
were  infants,  or  minors,  when  the  note  was  given,  and 
were,  therefore,  in  law,  incompetent  to  make  a  contract, 
and  that  the  note  was  void. 

As  counsel  for  Case,  Lincoln  produced  in  court  the 
note  signed  by  the  Snow  boys.  It  was  admitted  that  the 
note  was  given  in  payment  for  the  plough  and  oxen. 
Then  the  defendants'  counsel  offered  to  prove  that  they 
were  under  age  when  they  signed  the  note. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lincoln,  "  I  guess  we  will  admit  that." 

"  Is  there  a  count  in  the  declaration  for  oxen  and 
plough  sold  and  delivered?"  asked  the  Justice. 

" Yes,"  said  Lincoln;  "and  I  have  only  one  or  two 
questions  to  ask  of  the  witness,  who  has  been  called  by 
the  defendants'  counsel  to  prove  the  age  of  his  clients." 

"Where  is  that  prairie  team  now?"  asked  Lincoln. 

"  On  the  farm  of  the  Snow  boys." 

"  Have  you  seen  any  one  breaking  prairie  with  it 
lately?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  witness,  "  the  boys  were  breaking  up 
with  it  yesterday." 

"  How  old  are  the  boys  now  ?  " 

"  One  is  a  little  over  twenty-one,  and  the  other  is  near 
twenty-three." 

"  That  is  all,"  said  Lincoln. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Lincoln  to  the  jury ;  "  these  boys 
never  would  have  tried  to  cheat  old  farmer  Case  out  of 


136  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

these  oxen  and  that  plough,  but  for  the  advice  of  counsel. 
It  was  bad  advice,  bad  in  morals,  bad  in  law.  The  law 
never  sanctions  cheating,  and  a  lawyer  must  be  very  smart 
indeed  to  twist  it  so  that  it  will  seem  to  do  so.  The 
Judge  will  tell  you,  what  your  own  sense  of  justice  has 
already  told  you,  that  these  Snow  boys,  if  they  were  mean 
enough  to  plead  the  baby  act,  when  they  came  to  be  men 
would  have  taken  the  plough  and  oxen  back.  They  cannot 
go  back  on  their  contract  and  also  keep  what  the  note  was 
given  for." 

Without  leaving  their  seats,  the  jury,  made  up  of  men 
of  the  neighborhood,  gave  a  verdict  for  Lincoln's  client, 
old  farmer  Case. 

A  more  celebrated  case  was  that  which  Lincoln  tried 
in  1841,  and  was  known  as  that  of  Bailey  vs.  Cromwell. 
A  negro  girl  named  Nancy  had  been  sold,  as  a  slave,  or  in- 
dentured servant,  by  Cromwell  to  Bailey,  and  a  promissory 
note  taken  in  payment.  The  note  was  not  paid  when  it 
became  due,  and  suit  was  brought  in  the  Tazewell  County 
Court,  Illinois,  to  recover  the  amount,  and  judgment  was 
maker  for  the  plaintiff.  The  case  was  then  taken  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  State,  and  Lincoln  appeared  for  the 
maker  of  the  note,  Bailey.  He  argued  that  the  girl  could 
not  be  held  in  slavery,  since,  under  what  was  known  as 
the  Ordinance  of  1787,  slavery  was  prohibited  in  the 
Northwestern  Territory,  of  which  Illinois  was  a  part,  as 
well  as  by  the  constitution  of  that  State,  which  expressly 
prohibited  slavery.  He  insisted  that,  as  the  considera- 
tion for  which  the  note  was  given  was  a  human  being, 


FAMOUS  LAW-SUITS  ABOUT  NEGROES.  137 

and,  under  the  laws  of  Illinois,  a  human  being  could  not 
be  bought  and  sold,  the  note  was  void.  A  human  being 
could  not  be  an  object  of  sale  and  transfer  in  a  free  State. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  this  involved  some  of  the  questions 
in  which  Lincoln  afterwards  took  so  large  a  part  in  dis- 
cussing. His  argument,  covering  as  it  did  the  existence 
and  the  rights  claimed  for  human  slavery  under  the  con- 
stitution of  a  State,  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  the  law 
of  nations,  was  very  carefully  constructed.  The  court 
reversed  the  judgment  and  the  note  was  thus  declared 
void,  as  Lincoln  had  alleged  that  it  was.  At  that  time, 
the  case  attracted  great  attention  from  its  novelty  as  well 
as  its  importance.  Lincoln  was  then  thirty-two  years  of 
age,  and  his  connection  with  so  weighty  and  grave  a  suit 
undoubtedly  occasioned  him  a  very  careful  and  thorough 
examination  of  the  questions  related  to  slavery. 

Another  slave  case  in  which  Lincoln  was  concerned  was 
more  interesting,  because  his  heart  was  engaged  when  the 
legal  aspect  of  the  affair  had  disappeared.  An  old*  slave 
woman,  living  near  Springfield,  had  been  born  in  slavery 
in  Kentucky,  and,  with  her  children,  had  passed  into  the 
possession  of  a  man  named  Hinkle.  Hinkle  had  moved 
into  Illinois,  bringing  his  slaves  with  him  ;  but,  as  he 
could  not  hold  them  there,  he  had  given  them  their  free- 
dom. In  course  of  time,  a  son  of  the  woman  had  hired 
himself  as  a  cabin  waiter  on  a  steamboat  and  had  voyaged 
down  the  Mississippi.  At  New  Orleans,  the  boy  had 
gone  ashore,  forgetting,  or  not  knowing,  that  he  was  liable 
to  arrest.  In  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  times, 


138  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

he  was  seized  by  the  police  and  locked  up,  the  rules  of  the 
city  requiring  that  any  colored  person  found  at  large, 
after  night,  without  a  written  pass  from  his  owner, 
should  be  confined  in  the  "  calaboose."  After  some  delay, 
the  boy  was  brought  out,  tried,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a 
fine.  Meanwhile  the  steamboat  had  left,  and  the  boy 
was  liable  to  be  sold  into  slavery  to  pay  his  fine.  Word 
was  sent  to  the  boy's  mother,  in  Illinois,  and,  in  her  ex- 
tremity, she  came  to  Lincoln,  who  had  gained  some 
reputation  as  being  one  of  the  very  few  lawyers  in 
Springfield  who  dared  to  undertake  a  case  involving  what 
were  called  the  rights  of  slavery.  Lincoln  was  very 
much  moved,  and  he  besought  his  partner,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Herndon,  to  go  and  see  the  governor  and  ask  if  there 
was  no  way  by  which  a  free  negro,  held  in  duress  in  New 
Orleans,  could  be  brought  home.  The  governor  regret- 
ted very  much  to  say  that  there  was  no  remedy  provided 
by  the  constitution  or  the  laws  for  such  a  state  of  facts. 
He  co'uld  do  nothing.  Lincoln  rose  to  his  feet,  in  great 
excitement,  and  said  :  "  By  the  Almighty  !  I  '11  have  that 
negro  back  soon,  or  I  '11  have  a  twenty  years'  excitement 
in  Illinois  until  the  governor  does  have  a  legal  and  con- 
stitutional right  to  do  something  in  the  premises !  "  The 
twenty  years'  excitement  came  in  due  time,  but,  mean- 
while, the  two  lawyers  sent  money  of  their  own  to  New 
Orleans,  entrusting  the  case  to  a  correspondent ;  the  fine 
and  other  expenses  were  paid  and  the  boy  sent  home  to 
his  grateful  mother. 

It  is  related  of  Edward  D.  Baker,  Lincoln's  friend  and 


JACK  ARMSTRONGS  SON  ARRESTED.  139 

comrade,  that  being  once  asked  to  undertake  a  suit  in 
which  the  rights  of  a  fugitive  slave  were  involved,  he 
said  that,  as  a  public  man  and  a  politician,  he  did  not 
dare  to  take  it.  An  anti-slavery  friend  of  the  man  who 
was  in  trouble  was  next  applied  to  for  advice,  and  he 
said  :  "  Go  to  Lincoln.  He  's  not  afraid  of  an  unpopular 
case.  When  I  go  for  a  lawyer  to  defend  an  arrested  fugi- 
tive slave,  other  lawyers  will  refuse  me,  but  if  Lincoln  is 
at  home  he  will  always  take  my  case." 

The  reader  will  remember  that  the  leader  of  "  the 
Clary's  Grove  boys,"  Jack  Armstrong,  became  Lincoln's 
steadfast  friend  and  ally,  after  the  tussle  between  him 
and  young  Lincoln,  in  Salem,  during  Lincoln's  rough 
apprenticeship  in  the  company  of  the  frontiersmen. 
When  Jack  Armstrong  was  married,  and  had  become  a 
steady-going  householder,  his  home  was  always  open  to 
the  welcome  visits  of  his  old  friend.  Here,  when  lack  of 
employment  cast  him  down,  Lincoln  found  a  harbor  of 
rest  and  refuge.  It  was  in  Mrs.  Jack  Armstrong's  house 
that  a  chance  visitor  first  saw  Lincoln,  prone  on  a  trundle- 
bed,  rocking  a  cradle  with  one  foot  while  he  read  aloud. 
And  in  later  years,  when  Jack  Armstrong  was  dead  and 
his  boy  had  grown  to  man's  estate,  his  mother  came  to 
Lincoln  in  great  trouble.  Her  son,  William  D.  Arm- 
strong, had  been  arrested  for  murder.  Lincoln  knew 
nothing  of  the  case,  but  he  undertook  it,  and,  after 
looking  into  the  facts,  became  assured  that  the  lad  was 
innocent. 

It  appeared  that  young  Armstrong,  in  company  with 


140  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

some  of  his  mates,  had  visited  a  camp-meeting  and  had 
become  involved  in  a  quarrel.  The  difficulty  was  pro- 
longed into  the  night,  and,  in  the  course  of  the  fracas,  a 
mortal  blow  was  dealt  to  a  young  man  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  dispute,  whatever  it  was.  The  evidence 
against  the  prisoner  was  solid  and  substantial,  although 
chiefly  circumstantial,  except  that  one  witness  did  swear 
that  he  saw  the  prisoner  inflict  the  fatal  blow  with  a 
slung-shot,  by  "  the  light  of  the  moon,  which  was  shining 
brightly."  Lincoln  surprised  everybody  by  his  calm, 
merciless,  and  destructive  analysis  of  the  evidence,  which, 
to  him,  looked  like  a  conspiracy  against  young  Arm- 
strong. But  when  he  came  to  the  evidence  of  the  man 
who  had  made  oath  that  he  beheld  the  blow  delivered  by 
the  light  of  the  brightly  shining  moon,  he  called  for  an 
almanac  and  showed  that  on  the  night  in  question  there 
was  no  moon  at  all  !  The  climax  was  reached,  and  the 
jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty."  The  widow 
had  not  been  able  to  endure  the  suspense  in  court,  and 
had  gone  out  into  a  pasture  to  weep  and  pray  alone. 
Before  the  sun  went  down,  a  messenger  came  running  to 
her  with  the  glad  tidings :  "  Bill  is  free ;  your  son  is 
cleared."  For  this  inestimable  service  Lincoln  would 
take  no  fee.  No  record  of  the  argument  in  the  case  has 
been  left,  but  one  who  heard  it  says  his  plea  was  irresisti- 
ble. Even  before  he  reached  the  climax  of  his  argument, 
by  his  manly  eloquence  he  had  succeeded  in  convincing 
the  jury,  as  he  had  convinced  himself,  that  young  Arm- 
strong was  innocent.  And  this  was  done,  too,  when 


HOW   THE  ATTORNEY  LOOKED  AND   SPOKE.      14! 

n 
popular  prejudice  was  all  against  the  prisoner,  and  when, 

in  consequence  of  the  prevailing  belief  in  his  guilt,  Lin- 
coln had  been  obliged  to  have  the  trial  moved  to  another 
circuit.  It  has  been  said  that  Lincoln  resorted  to  a  trick 
and  introduced  an  old  almanac  to  deceive  the  jury.  But 
to  those  who  knew  him,  this  tale,  is  simply  incredible. 
Lincoln  never  employed  unworthy  tricks.  The  foreman 
of  the  jury  afterwards  offered  to  make  affidavit  that  the 
almanac  used  by  Lincoln  was  of  the  year  of  the  murder. 
While  we  are  considering  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  lawyer,  it 
may  be  as  well  to  read  what  an  eminent  judge  said  of  him. 
When  the  news  of  Lincoln's  death,  in  1865,  was  officially 
noted  in  the  courts  of  the  State,  Judge  Drummond,  of 
Chicago,  said  :  "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  he 
was  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  I  have  ever  known."  And, 
speaking  of  his  personal  appearance  and  manner  at  the 
bar,  the  judge  said :  "  With  a  voice  by  no  means  pleasant, 
and,  indeed,  when  excited,  in  its  shrill  tones  sometimes 
almost  disagreeable ;  without  any  of  the  personal  graces 
of  the  orator ;  without  much  in  the  outward  man  indicat- 
ing superiority  of  intellect.;  without  great  quickness  of 
perception, — still,  his  mind  was  so  vigorous,  his  compre- 
hension so  exact  and  clear,  and  his  judgment  so  sure,  that 
he  easily  mastered  the  intricacies  of  his  profession,  and 
became  one  of  the  ablest  reasoners  and  most  impressive 
speakers  at  our  bar."  l<  He  always  tried  a  case  fairly  and 
honestly.  He  never  intentionally  misrepresented  the 
evidence  of  a  witness  or  the  argument  of  an  opponent. 
He  met  them  squarely,  and  if  he  could  not  explain  the 


142  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

one  or  answer  the  other,  substantially  admitted  it.  He 
never  misstated  the  law  according  to  his  own  intelligent 
view  of  it." 

Lincoln's  voice  was  not  sonorous,  and  at  times  it  rose 
to  a  high,  somewhat  shrill  key.  In  ordinary  conversation 
his  tones  were  agreeable,  and  his  enunciation  clear.  When 
excited,  in  speaking,  he  rose  to  a  commanding  height,  so 
that  one  aged  man  hearing  him  speak  from  a  political 
platform  for  the  first  time  after  he  had  become  famed  in 
his  own  State,  said  :  "  He  seemed  to  be  about  twenty  foot 
high  ! "  At  such  times  Lincoln  no  longer  was  the  homely 
and  ungainly  man  that  he  was  reputed  to  be.  His  eyes 
flashed  fire  ;  his  appearance  underwent  a  change  as  though 
the  inspired  mind  had  transformed  the  body ;  his  face, 
darkened  with  malarial  influences  and  seamed  with  the 
wrinkles  of  premature  age,  was  transfigured  with  that 
mysterious  "  inner  light  "  which  some  observers  have  said 
reminded  them  of  a  flame  glowing  within  a  half-transparent 
vase.  To  the  end  of  his  life  Lincoln  adhered  to  the  old- 
fashioned  pronunciation  of  many  familiar  words.  With 
him  a  chair  was  a  "  cheer  "  ;  legislature  was  "  legislatur," 
and  so  on.  In  presenting  a  close  argument  he  would 
stoop  over  towards  his  auditors,  lower  and  lower,  until  he 
had  got  to  the  point  where  the  demonstration  was  shot 
home  upon  those  who  had  followed  him.  Then,  with  a 
sudden  jerk,  he  would  straighten  himself  up,  as  somebody 
has  said,  "like  a  jack-knife."  Unconscious  although  this 
was,  it  was  very  effective. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A   GREAT  AWAKENING. 

Stupor  Before  Excitement  —  A  Dead  Sea  of  Politics  —  Repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise — The  Migration  to  Kansas  —  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  Meet  again — A  Memorable  Debate — Lincoln  Withdraws 
from  the  Canvass — Lyman  Trumbull  Elected  to  the  Senate. 

IN  1850  it  looked  to  the  eyes  of  most  men  that  human 
slavery  was  forever  fixed  in  this  country.  Congress 
had  passed  a  series  of  measures  that  were  supposed  to 
settle  every  thing,  but  which  satisfied  neither  the  slave 
States  nor  the  free  States,  although  the  friends  of 
human  freedom  were  deeply  discouraged  by  the  enact- 
ment of  the  so-called  compromise.  Mr.  W.  H.  Herndon 
relates  that  as  he  and  Lincoln  were  wayfaring  together 
that  year  Lincoln  gloomily  said  :  "  How  hard,  ah,  how 
hard  it  is  to  die  and  leave  one's  country  no  better  than 
if  one  had  never  lived  in  it !  The  world  is  dead  to  hope, 
deaf  to  its  own  death-struggle,  made  known  by  a  univer- 
sal cry.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  Is  any  thing  to  be  done  ? 
Who  can  do  any  thing  ?  And  how  is  it  to  be  done  ?  Do 
you  ever  think  of  these  things?" 

In  that  year  Thomas  Lincoln  died.      Burdened  with 
many  cares,  Lincoln  could  not  go  to  see  his  father,  who 


144  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

was  reported  to  him  as  lying  very  low  in  health.  To  the 
ill-faring  step-brother,  John  Johnston,  Lincoln  wrote  while 
his  father  was  yet  alive  : 

"  I  sincerely  hope  that  father  may  yet  recover  his  health  ; 
but,  at  all  events,  tell  him  to  remember  to  call  upon  and  con- 
fide in  our  good  and  great  and  merciful  Father  and  Maker, 
who  will  not  turn  away  from  him  in  any  extremity.  He  notes 
the  fall  of  the  sparrow,  and  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads  ; 
and  he  will  not  forget  the  dying  man  who  puts  his  trust  in  him. 
Say  to  him  that,  if  we  could  meet  now,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
it  would  not  be  more  painful  than  pleasant,  but  that  if  it  be 
his  lot  to  go  now,  he  will  soon  have  a  joyful  meeting  with  the 
loved  ones  gone  before,  and  where  the  rest  of  us,  through 
the  mercy  of  God,  hope  erelong  to  join  them." 

In  1852  Lincoln  accepted  the  place  of  elector  on  the 
Whig  ticket  in  his  State.  As  he  was  wont  to  say,  he  was 
"  a  standing  candidate  for  Whig  elector,  but  seldom  elected 
anybody."  This  time,  as  was  expected,  the  Whig  candi- 
date was  defeated,  and  the  Democratic  nominee,  Frank- 
lin Pierce,  was  chosen.  Lincoln,  although  accepting  with 
reluctance  the  nomination  on  the  electoral  ticket  of  his 
party,  took  small  part  in  a  campaign  in  which  he  could  have 
had  no  heart.  His  party's  platform  had  closed  his  mouth 
on  the  only  subject  on  which  he  felt  very  deeply.  In 
fact,  the  whole  country  seemed  to  be  waiting  in  dumb  si- 
lence as  if  anticipating  the  storm  that  was  brewing.  As 
Lincoln  could  not  speak  on  the  slavery  issue,  he  could  not 
readily  find  other  topics  with  which  the  people  could  be 
stirred.  During  the  two  years  next  succeeding  there  was 
very  little  to  rouse  a  man  of  Lincoln's  warm  and  deep 


REPEAL    OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE.  145 

emotional  nature.  He  stuck  to  his  calling,  and  diligently 
pursued  it,  practising  at  Springfield  and  before  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  State. 

In  1854  came  the  great  awakening.  Once  more  the 
battle  was  to  be  fought  between  slavery  and  freedom. 
By  what  was  called  the  Missouri  Compromise,  enacted  in 
1820,  slavery  was  put  forever  out  of  the  Northwestern 
Territory.  This  had  already  been  secured  by  what  is 
known  as  the  Ordinance  of  1787  ;  but  when  Missouri  was 
admitted  to  the  family  of  States,  in  1820,  it  was  as  a  slave 
State.  If  Missouri  had  come  in  as  a  free  State,  the  bal- 
ance of  power  would  have  been  forever  after  with  the 
free  States.  By  the  compromise  under  which  Missouri 
came  in,  it  was  agreed  that  in  all  the  territory  north  of 
the  northern  boundary  of  that  State,  slavery  should  be 
forever  prohibited.  In  1854  the  new  territories  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  were  knocking  at  the  door  for  admittance. 
As  these  lay  to  the  north  of  Missouri  they  were  included 
in  the  prohibition  of  slavery.  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas, 
Senator  from  Illinois,  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  bill 
organizing  the  two  territories,  and  leaving  the  question 
of  slavery  to  be  settled  by  the  voters  of  the  region. 
This  was  a  repeal  of  the  much-vaunted  Missouri  Com- 
promise, which  positively  prohibited  slavery  in  those  ter- 
ritories. 

Words  can  but  feebly  describe  the  excitement  that  this 
bold  and  unexpected  concession  to  the  slave  States 
created  throughout  the  North.  It  had  been  thought  that 
the  Missouri  Compromise  gave  slavery  an  undue  advan- 


146  TffE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLtf. 

tage.  It  gave  that  accursed  institution  one  more  State. 
To  repeal  it  now  would  be  to  remove  the  barrier  that 
pent  the  flood  of  slavery  in  its  present  limits,  and  throw 
open  to  it  an  area  as  great  as  that  covered  by  the  thirteen 
original  States.  Amidst  the  most  intense  excitement, 
Douglas'  bill  was  finally  passed  through  Congress  on  the 
8th  of  May,  1854.  The  event  was  celebrated  by  the 
booming  of  an  artillery  salute  fired  on  Capitol  Hill, 
Washington.  That  boom  was  the  death-knell  of  slavery 
in  the  United  States. 

Instantly  the  whole  North  was  aflame.  Douglas  was 
everywhere  denounced  for  having  sold  his  birthright  as 
a  free  man  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  It  was  generally  be- 
lieved that  his  course  had  been  prompted  by  a  desire  to 
gain  the  support  of  the  slave  States  in  his  plans  to  be 
elected  President  of  the  republic.  With  wonderful  skill 
and  audacity,  he  defended  himself  from  the  attacks  that 
were  rained  down  upon  him.  He  insisted  that  the  popu- 
lar will  should  be  sovereign,  and  that  that^will  should  de- 
termine whether  slavery  or  freedom  should  rule  in  each 
community.  The  settlers  in  a  territory  were  called  "  squat- 
ters." The  slavery  question,  under  the  new  order  of 
things,  was  to  be  left  to  them.  The  friends  of  the  Doug- 
Mas  programme  invented  as  a  watchword  the  phrase 
"  squatter  sovereignty."  And  this,  with  the  next  best 
phrase,  "  popular  sovereignty,"  was  heard  in  every  po- 
litical discussion  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other. 

Then  began  a  race  to  take  possession  of  the  new  terri- 


THE  MIGRATION  TO  KANSAS.  147 

tory.  From  the  Northern  States  went  large  numbers  of 
people  bent  on  being  early  on  the  ground  to  occupy  the 
soil  for  freedom  ;  and  from  the  slave  States  migrated 
others  equally  resolved  to  secure  the  young  territory  for 
the  dominion  of  slavery.  Kansas,  being  readiest  of  ac- 
cess, received  the  full  volume  of  the  wave  of  immigration. 
The  free-State  men  moved  from  the  Western  States 
nearest ;  Northern  Illinois  and  Iowa  more  especialiy  con- 
tributing companies  of  actual  settlers,  as  they  called 
themselves,  to  distinguish  themselves  from  those  who 
were  merely  temporary  occupants  of  the  promised  land. 
But  even  as  far  off  as  New  England  were  formed  organi- 
zations to  assist  those  who  would  go  to  help  swell  the 
free  population  of  Kansas.  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  how- 
ever, both  slave  States,  and  both  having  a  large  uneasy, 
floating  population,  had  the  advantage  which  those  con- 
ditions gave  them,  and  their  people,  fired  with  a  deter- 
mination to  save  the  territory  for  slavery,  swarmed  over 
the  border.  These  movements,  which  began  almost  as 
soon  as  the  bill  passed  Congress,  occupied  the  summer  of 
that  year.  Before  three  months  had  passed  "  free-State 
men  "  and  "  pro-slavery  men  "  had  become  familiar  words 
all  over  the  West. 

Lincoln,  placidly  engaged  in  his  customary  vocations, 
but  ever  watchful  of  the  progress  of  events,  was  roused  to 
tense  attentiveness.  He  was  still  a  Whig  in  name,  but 
the  Whig  party  was  dying.  From  its  ruins  was  to 
spring  a  new  and  vigorous  organization,  to  the  leadership 
of  which,  in  his  own  State,  he  must  move. 


148  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

Congress  adjourned  in  August,  and  the  great  chiefs 
hurried  home,  astonished  by  the  angry  roar  that  came  up 
from  the  people  of  the  North.  Douglas,  dismayed  by  the 
burst  of  wrath  directed  against  him  as  a  Northern  man 
with  Southern  principles,  hastened  to  Illinois,  confident 
that,  with  his  crafty  logic  and  audacious  declamation,  he 
could  convince  the  people  that  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 
did  not  contain  the  pernicious  and  destructive  influences 
that  they  believed  it  did.  In  Chicago,  where  he  first 
tarried,  his  constituents  refused  to  hear  him.  The  walls 
were  placarded  with  hostile  words  against  him,  and  angry 
denunciations  were  heaped  upon  him.  He  was  not  per- 
mitted to  speak,  and  he  went  on  to  Springfield. 

Early  in  October,  1854,  the  great  agricultural  fair  of  the 
State,  at  which  men  were  wont  to  gather  from  every  part 
of  Illinois,  was  held  in  Springfield.  This  was  Douglas' 
opportunity,  and  he  eagerly  embraced  it.  It  was  noised 
abroad  that  Douglas  was  to  speak  to  the  people  in  justifi- 
cation of  his  course  and  in  defence  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill.  By  common  consent,  all  eyes  were  turned  to  Lincoln 
as  the  speaker  best  qualified  to  answer  the  plausible  and 
overbearing  Senator  from  Illinois.  The  day  came,  and 
amidst  an  excitement  that  only  those  who  witnessed  this 
great  conflict  between  the  two  intellectual  giants  of  the 
West  can  fully  understand,  Douglas  began  his  defence. 
He  was  the  Democratic  leader  of  the  West,  the  acknowl- 
edged head  of  his  party  in  the  North,  so  that  men  had 
begun  to  call  themselves  "  Douglas  Democrats."  He  was 
self-confident,  wilful,  at  times  arrogant  and  overbearing, 


LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS.  149 

and  full  of  all  manner  of  guile  and  political  expedients. 
He  had  already  spoken  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  but 
with  little  effect.  This  was  to  be  his  supreme  effort.  No 
report  of  the  speech  has  been  preserved  to  us ;  but  we 
know  that  Douglas'  attempt  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  made  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  whole  people  and  not  in  the  interest  of  slavery 
was  ingenious,  plausible,  and  as  effective  as  it  could  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  any  living  man.  That  the  attempt  was 
vain  was  owing  to  the  immovable  fact  that  the  repeal  did 
open  to  slavery  territories  that  had  been  closed  against  it. 
On  the  next  day  Lincoln  replied  to  Douglas.  All  ac- 
counts agree  in  saying  that  his  was  a  wonderful  and  a 
memorable  speech.  With  his  customary  fairness,  he  said 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  present  any  thing  but  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  that  if  Mr.  Douglas,  who  was  present, 
should  detect  him  in  making  any  error  he  would  be  glad 
to  be  corrected  on  the  spot.  Douglas  availed  himself 
of  this  invitation  to  interrupt  Lincoln  frequently,  to  ask 
him  impertinent  questions,  and  endeavor  to  break  him 
down  by  distracting  his  thought  from  the  matter  in  hand. 
Finally  Lincoln  lost  patience,  severely  tried  by  these  un- 
fair tactics,  and  said :  "  Gentlemen,  I  cannot  afford  to 
spend  my  time  in  quibbles.  I  take  the  responsibility  of 
asserting  the  truth  myself,  relieving  Judge  Douglas  from 
the  necessity  of  his  impertinent  corrections."  From  this 
point  he  was  allowed  to  speak  without  interruption  to  the 
end  of  his  speech,  which  occupied  three  hours  and  ten 
minutes  in  delivery.  The  sensation  produced  by  this 


150  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

speech,  so  convincing,  so  powerful  in  its  logic,  and  so 
tremendous  in  its  array  of  facts  and  arguments,  was  inde- 
scribable. At  last  the  lion  had  been  roused.  Stung  by 
the  superciliousness  and  pretended  contempt  as  well  as 
by  the  dishonest  course  of  Douglas  towards  him,  Lincoln 
rose  to  the  occasion  and  spoke  as  he  never  spoke  before. 
The  enthusiasm  of  his  audience  was  raised  to  fever  heat. 
It  is  a  misfortune  that  we  have  no  report  of  that  first 
great  speech  of  his  life.  But  contemporary  criticism  re- 
mains. The  Springfield  Journal,  next  day,  said : 

"  Lincoln  quivered  with  feeling  and  emotion.  The  whole 
house  was  as  still  as  death.  He  attacked  the  bill  with  unusual 
warmth  and  energy,  and  all  felt  that  a  man  of  strength  was  its 
enemy,  and  that  he  meant  to  blast  it  if  he  could  by  strong  and 
manly  efforts.  He  was  most  successful  ;  and  the  house  ap- 
proved the  glorious  triumph  of  truth  by  loud  and  long-contin- 
ued huzzas.  Women  waved  their  white  handkerchiefs  in  token 
of  woman's  silent  but  heartfelt  consent."  "  Mr.  Lincoln  ex- 
hibited Douglas  in  all  the  attitudes  he  could  be  placed  in  a 
friendly  debate.  He  exhibited  the  bill  in  all  its  aspects  to 
show  its  humbuggery  and  falsehoods,  and  when  thus  torn  to 
rags,  cut  into  slips,  held  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  vast  crowd,  a 
kind  of  scorn  was  visible  upon  the  face  of  the  crowd,  and  upon 
the  lips  of  the  most  eloquent  speaker."  "At  the  conclusion 
of  the  speech,  every  man  felt  that  it  was  unanswerable — that 
no  human  power  could  overthrow  it  or  trample  it  under  foot. 
The  long  and  repeated  applause  evinced  the  feelings  of  the 
crowd,  and  gave  token,  too,  of  the  universal  assent  to  Lincoln's 
whole  argument ;  and  every  mind  present  did  homage  to  the 
man  who  took  captive  the  heart,  and  broke  like  a  sun  over  the 
understanding." 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  famous  address  that  Lincoln 


A   MEMORABLE  DEBATE.  151 

uttered  one  of  those  pithy  sayings  of  his  which  have  since 
been  identified  with  his  name.  Douglas  dwelt  long  and 
ingeniously  on  his  favorite  doctrine  that  the  right  to  in- 
troduce human  slavery  into  a  territory  or  community,  by 
vote  of  the  people,  was  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of 
popular  sovereignty.  He  insisted  that  it  was  an  insult  to 
the  emigrants  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  intimate  that 
they  were  not  able  to  govern  themselves,  voting  slavery 
in,  or  out,  as  they  chose.  Replying  to  this  Lincoln  said : 
"  I  admit  thaf  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  is 
competent  to  govern  himself;  but  " — and  here  the  speaker 
rose  to  his  full  and  towering  height — "  I  deny  his  right  to 
govern  any  other  person  without  that  person's  consent." 
That  was  the  vital  point  in  the  whole  matter.  It  showed 
the  fallacy  and  the  sophistry  of  so-called  popular  sover- 
eignty. Douglas  would  not  recognize  the  inherent  wick- 
edness and  wrongfulness  of  slavery.  Lincoln  did. 

Perhaps  we  shall  understand  both  of  these  men  and 
motives  better  by  accepting  what  Lincoln  said,  some  time 
later  in  this  debate  ;  for  Lincoln  was  undoubtedly  just  to 
Douglas.  He  said,  speaking  of  Douglas'  remark  that  this 
government  was  made  for  the  white  man,  and  not  for  the 
negro  :  "  Why,  in  point  of  fact,  I  think  so  too  ;  but  in 
this  remark  of  Judge  Douglas,  there  is  a  significance 
which  I  think  is  the  key  to  the  great  mistake  (if  there  is 
any  such  mistake)  which  he  has  made  in  this  Nebraska 
measure.  It  shows  that  the  Judge  has  no  vivid  impression 
that  the  negro  is  a  human;  and,  consequently,  has  no  idea 
that  there  can  be  any  moral  question  in  legislating  about 


152  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

him.  In  his  view,  the  question  whether  a  new  country 
shall  be  slave  or  free  is  a  matter  of  as  utter  indifference  as 
it  is  whether  his  neighbor  shall  plant  his  farm  with  to- 
bacco or  stock  it  with  horned  cattle." 

At  the  close  of  Lincoln's  speech  Douglas  felt  that  he 
was  crushed.  Excited,  angry,  and  with  lowering  brows,  he 
took  the  platform  and  said  that  he  had  been  abused. 
Then,  as  if  seeing  that  the  vast  audience  before  him  would 
detect  the  misstatement,  for  they  had  paid  close  attention 
to  all  that  had  been  said,  he  added,  "  but*  in  a  perfectly 
courteous  manner."  He  then  attempted  to  make  some 
reply  to  Lincoln's  masterly  and  unanswerable  speech.  He 
faltered,  then  plucked  up  enough  bravado  to  say  that  he 
would  continue  his  address  in  the  evening.  When  even- 
ing came,  Douglas  was  not  there,  and  the  remarks  prom- 
ised were  never  made. 

Lincoln  had  agreed  to  speak  in  Peoria,  111.,  on  Mon- 
day, October  i6th.  Thither  Douglas  followed  him,  as  if 
determined  to  see  his  own  annihilation.  Douglas  spoke 
for  three  hours  in  the  afternoon,  and  Lincoln  followed  in 
the  evening,  speaking  three  hours  also.  The  result  was 
the  same  as  at  Springfield.  Lincoln's  speech  was  mate- 
rially different,  but  it  was,  as  subsequently  written  out  by 
him,  more  skilful  and  elaborate  in  its  treatment  of  the 
great  question.  Those  who  heard  both  of  these  memor- 
able addresses  have  said  that  the  Peoria  speech,  while  per- 
fect in  its  construction,  a  marvel  of  logical  force,  was  not 
so  stirring  as  that  delivered  at  Springfield.  It  was,  how- 
ever, distinguished  above  all  others  for  its  manifestation 


LINCOLN  WITHDRAWS  FROM  THE   CANVASS.       153 

of  a  full  and  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the  slavery  question 
and  of  all  that  had  at  that  time  grown  out  of  it.  Probably 
no  other  man  then  living  could  have  produced  so  com- 
plete and  comprehensive  a  view  of  the  subject  presented, 
both  as  to  itself  and  its  collateral  branches. 

At  the  close  of  this  speech,  Douglas  said  to  Lincoln  : 
"  You  understand  this  question  of  prohibiting  slavery  in 
the  territories  better  than  all  the  opposition  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.  I  cannot  make  any  thing  by  debat- 
ing it  with  you.  You,  Lincoln,  have,  here  and  at  Spring- 
field, given  me  more  trouble  than  all  the  opposition  in  the 
Senate  combined."  He  then  appealed  to  Lincoln's  mag- 
nanimity, as  we  are  told  by  at  least  one  historian  (Mr. 
W.  H.  Herndon),  to  agree  that  there  should  be  no  more 
joint  discussions,  and  to  this  Lincoln  assented.  It  is 
likely,  however,  that  some  other  motive  was  presented  to 
move  Lincoln's  mind  to  this  agreement.  At  any  rate, 
although  they  had  appointed  one  more  joint  debate,  it 
was  not  held,  and  both  withdrew  for  the  time  being. 

The  Legislature  elected  that  year  was  to  choose  a  suc- 
cessor to  James  Shields,  then  a  Senator  from  Illinois,  a 
Democratic  colleague  with  Douglas.  This  was  the  same 
belligerent  Shields  who,  some  years  before,  had  pro- 
posed to  fight  a  duel  with  the  young  lawyer,  Lincoln. 
He  was  a  candidate  for  re-election,  but  Lincoln's  bout 
with  Douglas,  and  the  fierce  excitement  that  swept  the 
country,  had  endangered  his  chances.  It  is  not  certain, 
perhaps,  whether  the  friendship  of  Douglas  or  the  opposi- 
tion of  Lincoln  was  the  more  destructive  of  Shields' 


154  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN, 

chances  for  a  renewal  of  his  term  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  Fortunately  for  the  Democrats,  they  had 
several  Senators  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State  whose 
terms  would  not  expire  until  the  following  year;  other- 
wise, the  Legislature  would  have  been  revolutionized  ; 
but,  in  the  various  composite  elements  in  the  Legislature, 
there  was  a  clear  majority  of  two  against  Douglas,  or, 
rather,  against  any  man  that  had  Douglas'  advocacy. 
Lincoln  led  the  opposition,  and,  by  general  consent,  was 
selected  as  candidate  for  the  Senate  against  Shields.  The 
two  old-time  antagonists  had  met  again.  When  the 
Legislature  came  together  the  anti-Douglas  men  were  not 
united.  Lyman  Trumbull,  an  able  lawyer  and  accom- 
plished debater,  was  one  of  the  candidates  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  Douglas  men ;  Lincoln  was  the  other.  On  the 
first  ballot  Lincoln  received  forty-five  votes,  Trumbull 
five,  and  Shields  forty-one,  and  there  were  some  scattering 
votes.  Repeated  ballotings  produced  no  other  result,  un- 
til Joel  A.  Matteson,  Democrat,  had  been  substituted  for 
Shields,  who  was  withdrawn.  On  the  tenth  ballot,  Lin- 
coln, having  besought  his  friends  to  go  for  Trumbull,  or 
Matteson  would  assuredly  be  elected,  Trumbull  received 
fifty-one  votes,  Matteson  forty-seven,  and  one  vote  was 
cast  for  a  man  who  was  not  a  candidate.  Thus  the  con- 
test terminated  by  the  election  of  a  man  who  was  inflexi- 
bly opposed  to  the  Douglas  policy,  and  who,  later  on,  was 
to  be  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Senate  during  Lincoln's 
presidential  term.  To  Lincoln's  unselfish  devotion  to 
principle  was  this  triumphant  success  of  the  new  spirit  of 


LYMAN  TRUMBULL  ELECTED. 


'55 


the  freemen  of  Illinois  largely  due.  He  ardently  desired 
the  senatorial  office,  for  he  felt  that  in  it  he  could  accom- 
plish great  things  for  free  government.  He  relinquished 
all  his  chances,  and  implored  his  friends,  who  were 
many  and  steadfast,  to  leave  him  and  vote  for  Trumbu.ll, 
rather  than  endanger  the  cause  in  which  they  were  all 
so  deeply  concerned.  This  generous  concession  solidified 
the  jarring  elements  of  the  new  party  and  made  its  after- 
successes  possible.  Nor  is  this  generosity  lessened  by  the 
fact  that  Judge  Trumbull  had  never  been  the  political 
friend  of  Lincoln,  but  his  opponent,  and  sometimes  his 
unfriendly  critic. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE   KANSAS   STRUGGLE. 

Freedom  and  Slavery  Wrestle  with  Each  Other — "  Bleeding  Kansas  "- 
The     Troubler     of     Slave-Owners  —  The     Irrepressible     Conflict  — 
Lincoln's  Slowness  and  Reticence. 

MEANWHILE,  immigrants  from  free  States  and 
slave  States  were  pouring  into  Kansas.  In  spite 
of  the  incursions  of  the  pro-slavery  men,  the  hardy  immi- 
rants  from  Iowa,  Northern  Illinois,  and  New  England 
were  clearly  in  the  majority.  Something  must  be  done  to 
stem  this  tide  and  to  turn  it  back  upon  the  free  States. 
Violence  was  readily  resorted  to.  The  swashbucklers  who 
trooped  over  the  border  from  Missouri  and  Arkansas  were 
as  ready  to  stuff  ballot-boxes  with  fraudulent  votes  and 
mob  free-State  men  as  they  were  to  vote.  One  thing  they 
would  not  do — work.  The  free-State  men  were,  indeed, 
actual  settlers.  They  took  up  land,  planted  crops,  and 
built  log-cabins  for  their  families,  evidently  intending  to 
stay.  The  borderers,  on  the  other  hand,  were  rough 
riders,  sportsmen,  gamblers.  They  spent  their  time  in 
drinking,  shooting,  scouring  the  country  for  prey,  and 
terrifying  helpless  women  and  children.  One  of  their 
favorite  expressions  was  that  they  "  would  make  it  hot 

156 


I     /' 

1 


158  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

for  any  Abolitionist,"  and  another  was  that  they  "would 
cut  the  heart  out  of  any  man  who  voted  the  Abolition 
ticket."  Aggressiveness  like  this  soon  engendered  hatreds. 
The  pro-slavery  men  were  known  as  "  border  ruffians," 
and  the  free-State  men  were  commonly  called  "Aboli- 
tioners." 

Under  the  lead  of  the  notorious  "  Dave  "  Atchison,  of 
Missouri,  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  secret  societies, 
known  as  "  Blue  Lodges  "  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
ridding  the  country  of  the  hated  free-State  men. 
Steamers  bound  up  the  Missouri  River,  laden  with  free- 
State  immigrants  and  their  movable  property,  were 
stopped  by  these  ruffians,  who  swarmed  on  board,  drove 
off  the  immigrants,  put  their  cattle  and  goods  ashore,  and 
compelled  the  officers  of  the  steamers,  who  were  only  too 
willing  to  be  an  unresisting  party  to  this  outrage,  to  go 
on  and  leave  their  passengers  behind.  The  border  ruf- 
fians had  on  their  side  the  influence  of  the  United  States 
officials,  the  Missouri  State  government,  and  the  State 
militia.  They  rode  across  the  border,  burning  fields  of 
grain  and  cabins  of  the  free-State  men,  killing  or  running 
off  their  animals,  and  devastating  the  country  for  miles 
around.  Under  the  leadership  of  Atchison  and  another 
of  his  kidney,  one  Stringfellow,  raids  were  planned  for 
long  forays  into  the  territory,  the  raiders  returning  into 
Missouri  under  the  cover  of  the  night,  or  camping  in  se- 
cluded places  along  the  border,  ready  for  another  excur- 
sion. On  the  free-State  side  were  such  men  as  "  Jim  " 
Lane,  afterward  a  Senator  from  Kansas,  and  a  redoubt- 


KANSAS  ELECTIONS.  159 

able  fighter;  John  Brown,  then  called  Ossawottomie 
Brown,  from  his  pitching  his  tent  on  the  Kansas  stream 
of  that  name  ;  Charles  Robinson,  afterward  the  Governor 
of  the  free  State ;  Silas  C.  Pomeroy,  afterward  Senator 
from  the  new  State ;  and  others  whose  names  are  grate- 
fully remembered  by  the  early  settlers  of  that  dark  and 
troublous  time. 

When  the  local  elections  came  on,  the  border  ruffians 
showed  that  they  were  more  than  a  match  for  the  law- 
abiding  and  orderly  free-State  men.  These  were 
astounded  by  the  audacity  and  coolness  with  which  the 
border  men  took  possession  of  the  polls,  voted  as  often  as 
they  pleased,  and  carried  things  generally  with  a  high 
hand.  In  one  instance,  for  example,  the  borderers 
brought  with  them  a  directory  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
and  put  page  after  page  of  names  from  that  book  upon 
the  poll-list,  with  votes  for  the  pro-slavery  candidates  for 
office  and  for  slavery,  in  precincts  where  there  were  but 
few  votes.  In  another  precinct,  they  formed  a  lane  of 
their  gangs,  leading  up  to  the  door  of  the  log-cabin  where 
the  ballot-box  was  put.  When  the  voter  approached,  he 
was  obliged  to  show  his  ballot ;  if  it  was  for  slavery,  he 
was  permitted  to  deposit  it  in  the  box ;  if  not,  he  was 
jocularly  lifted  to  the  roof  of  the  cabin,  where  a  squad  of 
stalwart  men  received  him,  hurried  him  over  the  ridge- 
pole, and  slid  him  down  on  the  other  side,  when  he  was 
permitted  to  escape,  glad  to  get  away  with  his  life.  Out- 
rages like  these  were  committed  every  day,  and  in  more 
than  one  instance,  death  followed  the  least  resistance  to 
tyranny. 


l6o  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Massacres  were  frequent,  and  the  soil  of  the  unhappy 
young  territory  was  literally  wet  with  blood.    The  watch- 
word "  Bleeding  Kansas,"  which  was  derided  then  and 
afterward  by  the  friends  of  slavery,  described  in  a  terse 
phrase  the  condition   of  the  region  where  the  battle  of 
freedom  was  being  fought.     In  these  disturbances,  a  son 
of  Ossawottomie  Brown  was  slain,  and  the  father  made  a 
vow  to  avenge  on  slavery  the  death  of  his  son.     Ruined 
homesteads  were  to  be  seen  on  every  hand,  and  for  a  time 
the    borderers,    with    the    national   government   at  their 
back  and  the  militia  troops  of  Missouri  within  assisting 
distance,  carried  the  day.     Slavery  was  "  voted   up  "  by 
such  means  as  have  been  described,  and  a  government 
was  established  on  the  basis  of  the   right  of  any  man  to 
own  human  beings  in  the  new  territory  of  Kansas.     The 
story  of  these  shameful  wrongs  and  outrages  was  spread 
abroad   and   made   a    profound    impression   all   over   the 
country.     But  the  raiders  did  not  stay  on  the  soil  they 
had  apparently  conquered  for  slavery.      They  went  back 
to  their  haunts  on  the  Missouri  side  of  the  border,  and 
after  a  while,  the  institution  for  which  they  had  commit- 
ted so  many  crimes  grew  more  and   more   feeble.     The 
slaves  ran  away,  for  there  were  free  States  near  at  hand 
where  they  could  hide,  and  pursuit  in  so  unsettled  a  con- 
dition  of  the   country   was   almost  hopeless.      President 
Pierce,    and    President    Buchanan   after   him,    appointed 
governor  after  governor.      The  territory  must  be  saved 
to  slavery ;  but  this  was  more  than  any  governor  could 
accomplish.      And  when  the  exactions  of  the  pro-slavery 


A    STATE   GOVERNMENT  ORGANIZED.  l6l 

party  at  Washington  became  more  oppressive,  each  gov- 
ernor resigned  and  went  home.  Kansas  was  grimly  called 
"  the  graveyard  of  territorial  governors." 

All  this  time  Kansas  was  merely  a  territory,  subject  to 
the  rule  of  Congress,  and  governed  by  officers  appointed 
by  the  President — not  by  men  elected  by  the  people. 
The  time  would  come  when  the  territory  must  be  admit- 
ted into  the  family  of  States,  and  be  allowed  to  choose  its 
own  Legislature,  governor,  and  other  officers.  Slavery 
must  be  fixed  upon  the  people  before  that  time  arrived. 
The  free-State  men,  in  their  desperation,  organized  a 
State  government,  framed  a  constitution  with  slavery  left 
out,  and  elected  a  governor,  Charles  Robinson.  They 
established  their  State  capital  at  Topeka.  The  regular 
territorial  Legislature  and  seat  of  government  were  es- 
tablished at  Lecompton.  To  say  that  Lincoln's  heart  was 
stirred  by  the  daily  report  of  outrages  committed  in  Kan- 
sas for  the  sake  of  slavery,  feebly  expresses  the  indigna- 
tion with  which  he  was  inflamed.  Yet,  cool  and  calm, 
logical  and  shrewd,  as  he  always  was,  he  made  no  inflam- 
matory speeches,  and  showed  in  public  no  signs  of  the  ex- 
citement that  reigned  within.  About  that  time,  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  his  well-beloved  friend,  Joshua  Speed,  of  Ken- 
tucky— one  who  not  only  lived  in  a  slave  State,  but  was 
still  attached  to  the  interests  of  slavery.  The  following 
extract  indicates  the  position  which  these  two  friends 
then  held  towards  slavery  in  Kansas  : 

"  You  say  if  Kansas  fairly  votes  herself  a  free-State,  as  a 
Christian  you  will  rather  rejoice  at  it.  All  decent  slave-hold- 


1 62  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ers  talk  that  way,  and  I  do  not  doubt  their  candor.  But  they 
never  vote  that  way.  Although,  in  a  private  letter  or  conver- 
sation you  will  express  your  preference  that  Kansas  shall  be 
free,  you  would  vote  for  no  man  for  Congress  who  would  say 
the  same  thing  publicly.  No  such  man  could  be  elected,  from 
any  district,  or  any  slave  State.  You  think  Stringfellow  &  Co. 
ought  to  be  hung  ;  and  yet  you  will  vote  for  the  exact  type 
and  representation  of  Stringfellow.  The  slave-breeders  and 
slave-traders  are  a  small  and  detested  class  among  you,  and 
yet  in  politics  they  dictate  the  course  of  all  of  you,  and  are  as 
completely  your  masters  as  you  are  the  masters  of  your  own 
negroes." 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  setting  up  of  the  Kansas  infamy, 
Lincoln  was  still  reckoned  as  a  Whig.  That  party,  to  be 
sure,  was  in  a  dying  condition.  But  no  new  party  had 
been  formed  to  take  its  place,  or  to  receive  those  who 
were  to  come  out  from  it.  The  election  of  Trumbull,  as 
Senator  from  Illinois,  was  only  the  election  of  a  Democrat 
who  was  opposed  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  It  aston- 
ished the  friends  of  Douglas,  who  had  not  believed  that 
the  opposition  could  accomplish  any  thing  so  formidable 
as  this.  But,  after  all,  the  defeat  of  Lincoln  showed  that 
there  was  only  a  split  in  the  Democratic  party,  as  men 
then  regarded  the  political  situation.  What  did  Lincoln 
propose  to  do  about  slavery  ?  Would  he  abolish  it  alto- 
gether, and  so  put  an  end  to  this  everlasting  agitation  ? 
He  was  shrewd  enough  to  know  that  the  country  could 
no  longer  live  in  peace,  half  slave  and  half  free.  There 
was  no  doubt  that  he  would  do  whatever  he  could  to  pre- 
vent the  further  extension  of  slavery  into  territories  that 
were  hereafter  to  become  States.  But  he  knew  that  slav- 


SPEECH  AT  PEORIA.  163 

ery,  confined  to  the  States  in  which  it  existed,  would 
swell,  and  chafe,  and  threaten  continually  to  break  over 
its  bounds.  In  the  speech  delivered  at  Peoria,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1854,  Lincoln  said  :  "  If  all  earthly  power  were  given 
me,  I  should  not  know  what  to  do  as  to  the  existing  in- 
stitution. My  first  impulse  would  be  to  free  all  the  slaves 
and  send  them  to  Liberia — to  their  own  native  land.  But, 
if  they  were  all  landed  there  in  a  day,  they  would  all  per- 
ish in  the  next  ten  days  ;  and  there  is  not  surplus  ship- 
ping and  surplus  money  enough  to  carry  them  there  in 
many*  times  ten  days.  What  then  ?  "  This  was  a  ques- 
tion that  Lincoln  could  not  answer.  But,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, this  was  in  1854. 

To  those  who  know  what  Lincoln  did  when  he  became 
President,  and  who  know  how  slavery  came  to  an  end 
during  his  term  in  the  presidential  office,  his  reluctance  to 
join  what  was  at  that  time  known  as  the  Abolition  party 
may  seem  difficult  of  explanation.  But  Lincoln  was  a 
statesman.  If  he  could  have  had  supreme  power,  as  he 
expressed  it,  he  would  have  undoubtedly  made  the  slaves 
free.  But,  as  he  did  not  have  that  power,  it  was  his  mis- 
sion, clearly,  to  move  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  to  pass, 
as  soon  as  might  be,  the  time  when  slaves  should  be 
freed,  without  violence,  if  possible,  and  certainly  without 
war.  At  once,  as  we  have  seen,  he  took  his  stand  against 
any  further  extension  of  slavery.  He  knew  better,  prob- 
ably, than  anybody  else  did,  that  if  slavery  were  shut  out 
of  the  territories,  it  would,  in  the  course  of  time,  die  of 
itself.  As  he  repeatedly  expressed  it,  we  could  not  exist  as 


164  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

a  nation  half  slave  and  half  free.  "  A  house  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand."  Now,  however,  the  old  Whig  party 
was  in  ruins.  A  new  party,  pledged  to  oppose  all  further 
extension  of  slavery,  was  to  rise  and  assert  itself.  It  may 
be  said  that  this  party  occupied  a  middle  ground  between 
the  Democratic  party  (pledged  as  that  was,  in  fact,  to  the 
support  of  slavery)  and  the  Abolitionists,  pledged  to 
destroy  slavery  instantly  and  by  every  possible  means. 

It  must  be  apparent,  then,  to  any  one  who  has  fol- 
lowed this  history,  that  Lincoln  was  the  natural  leader  of 
the  Free-Soil  party.  In  no  other  part  of  the  country 
could  be  found  any  man  who  had  so  carefully  studied  the 
question  of  American  slavery  as  it  was  related  to  our  sys- 
tem of  government  and  to  the  political  parties  of  the 
time,  as  Lincoln.  Moreover,  he  was  animated  by  a  sin- 
cere love  of  liberty,  and  he  was  a  shrewd  and  even  cun- 
ning politician.  As  we  have  seen,  he  was  early  in 
politics,  having  amused  himself  with  these  matters  from 
his  boyhood.  Not  at  once,  however,  did  he  take  the 
place  of  leader.  Not  at  once  did  he  throw  in  his  fortunes 
with  those  who  were  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  new  Free- 
Soil  party.  He  always  moved  slowly  and  with  a  delibera- 
tion that  deceived  many  and  annoyed  not  a  few.  They 
thought  him  too  slow,  over-cautious,  even  waiting  to  see 
which  was  to  be  the  winning  side.  Nothing  could  be 
more  unjust.  Much  of  his  supposed  hesitancy  was  to 
wait  the  inevitable  consequence  of  events.  And  it  will 
help  us  to  a  better  understanding  of  Lincoln's  purposes  if 
we  bear  in  mind  that,  from  the  first,  he  saw  that  a  conflict 


THE   CHAMPION  OF  FREEDOM. 


I65 


of  some  kind  was  sure  to  come.  But  the  time  came 
when  he  took  his  final  stand  and  declared  that  he  must 
thenceforth  be  the  champion  of  freedom  against  slavery 
until,  to  use  his  own  memorable  words,  "  The  sun  shall 
shine,  the  rain  shall  fall,  and  the  wind  shall  blow  upon  no 
man  who  goes  forth  to  unrequited  toil." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   COMING   MAN. 

Birth  of  the  Republican  Party — Nomination  of  Freemont — The  Party 
Lines  Drawn — A  Virulent  Campaign — Election  of  James  Buchanan — 
Kansas  Reluctant  to  Consent  to  Slavery. 

A  CONVENTION  of  men  opposed  to  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  measure  was  called  to  meet  in  Bloom- 
ington,  Illinois,  May  29,  1856.  It  was  a  meeting,  in  fact, 
of  such  persons  residing  in  Illinois  as  were  opposed  to  the 
further  extension  of  slavery.  Naturally  the  assemblage 
was  made  up  of  men  who  were  divided  on  many  of  the 
minor  questions  relating  to  the  conflict  of  slavery  and 
freedom,  and,  in  fact,  it  soon  become  evident  that  they 
could  not  unite  on  any  declaration  of  principles  beyond 
that  of  hostility  to  slavery  and  all  measures  for  its  exten- 
sion, without  much  difficulty.  Lincoln  was  sent  for,  and, 
finding  the  managers  of  this  mass-meeting  in  trouble,  he 
proposed  the  following.  He  said  :  "  Let  us,  in  building 
our  new  party,  make  our  corner-stone  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Let  us  build  on  this  rock,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  us."  This  simple  and 
sufficient  "  platform  "  met  the  approval  of  all  who  heard 
it.  The  convention,  if  it  may  be  dignified  by  that  name, 

166 


BIRTH  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  l6/ 

adopted  the  following  resolution,  which  was  only  an  ex- 
pansion of  Lincoln's  idea: 

"  Resolved,  That  we  hold,  in  accordance  with  the  opinions 
and  practices  of  all  the  great  statesmen  of  all  parties  for  the 
first  sixty  years  of  the  administration  of  the  government,  that, 
under  the  Constitution,  Congress  possesses  full  power  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  the  Territories  ;  and  that  while  wfe  will  main- 
tain all  constitutional  rights  of  the  South,  we  also  hold  that 
justice,  humanity,  the  principles  of  freedom,  as  expressed  in 
our  Declaration  of  Independence  and  our  National  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  purity  and  perpetuity  of  our  government  require 
that  that  power  should  be  exerted  to  prevent  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  Territories  heretofore  free." 

The  Republican  party  was  born. 

Rising  in  the  midst  of  that  convention,  which  was  an 
assembly  vast  in  proportions,  of  the  most  ardent  friends 
of  freedom  and  some  of  the  ablest  leaders  of  public 
opinion,  Lincoln  made  a  masterly  speech,  kindling,  thrill- 
ing, and  stimulating.  Like  so  many  of  his  earlier  ad- 
dresses in  the  cause  of  Republican  institutions,  no  report 
of  the  speech  has  been  left  us.  One  who  was  present  at 
the  meeting  says  of  the  address  :  "  Never  was  an  audience 
more  completely  electrified  by  human  eloquence.  Again 
and  again,  during  the  progress  of  its  delivery,  they  sprang 
to  their  feet  and  upon  the  benches,  and  testified  by  long 
continued  shouts  and  the  waving  of  hats,  how  deeply  the 
speaker  had  wrought  upon  their  minds  and  hearts.  It 
fused  the  mass  of  hitherto  incongruous  elements  into  per- 
fect homogeneity,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  they 
have  worked  together  in  harmonious  and  fraternal  union." 


1 68  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Similar  proceedings  had  taken  place  in  other  States, 
each  State  organizing  its  party  for  freedom  in  its  own 
way.  The  first  national  convention  of  the  Republican 
party  met  in  Philadelphia,  June  17,  1856.  John  Charles 
Fremont,  of  California,  was  nominated  for  President,  and 
William  L.  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  for  Vice-President. 
Lincoln's  Illinois  friends,  ever  on  the  lookout  for  a  chance 
to  promote  what  they  thought  were  his  interests,  made 
an  effort  to  have  him  made  the  candidate  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent. Mr.  Dayton  received  259  votes  and  Lincoln  no 
votes,  there  being  many  votes  scattered  among  leading 
members  of  the  new  party.  When  Lincoln,  who  remained 
in  Springfield,  heard  of  the  votes  cast  for  "  Lincoln  "  for 
Vice-President,  he  said,  unconscious  of  his  growing  fame, 
"  That  is  probably  the  distinguished  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts." 

The  Democratic  Convention,  in  the  meantime,  had  met 
in  Cincinnati,  June  2,  1856,  and  had  nominated  James 
Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  President,  and  John  C. 
Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  for  Vice-President.  Douglas, 
Lincoln's  frequent  adversary,  had  reason  to  expect  that 
he  might  be  named  for  the  presidency  as  a  reward  for  his 
advocacy  of  measures  designed  to  carry  slavery  into  the 
new  territories.  This  honor  was  denied  him.  On  the 
sixteenth  and  next  to  the  last  ballot,  Buchanan  received 
168  votes,  of  which  121  were  from  the  free  States,  and  47 
were  from  the  slave  States.  Douglas  received  122  votes, 
of  which  49  were  from  free  States,  and  73  from  slave 
States.  The  Republican  party,  in  their  platform  of  prin- 


THE  AMERICAN  PARTY.  169 

ciples,  denied  the  authority  of  Congress,  or  of  any  terri- 
torial Legislature,  of  any  individual,  or  association  of  indi- 
viduals, to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  territory 
of  the  United  States.  They  furthermore  declared  that 
"  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign  power 
over  the  territories  of  the  United  States  for  their  govern- 
ment, "  and  that  in  the  exercise  of  that  power  it  is  both 
the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in  the  terri- 
tories "  those  twin  relics  of  barbarism — polygamy  and 
slavery."  On  the  other  hand,  the  Democratic  Convention 
adopted  a  skilfully  worded  platform  of  principles,  the 
verbiage  of  which  was  designed  to  conceal  ideas.  The 
time  for  outspoken  utterances  on  the  all-absorbing  subject 
of  slavery  evidently  had  not  come.  But  the  platform  was 
an  unmistakable  endorsement  of  the  doctrine  that  the 
people  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  could,  as  Douglas  had 
said,  vote  slavery  up  or  down,  as  they  chose.  The  lines 
between  the  two  parties  were,  after  all,  pretty  sharply 
drawn. 

There  was  a  third  party  in  the  field  that  year,  its  mem- 
bers calling  themselves  the  American  party,  their  princi- 
pal article  of  faith  being  the  restriction  of  the  right  to  vote 
to  native-born  citizens,  to  a  great  degree,  foreigners  being 
allowed  to  use  that  right  very  sparingly.  The  American 
party  nominated  Fillmore  and  Donelson,  Mr.  Fillmore 
being  the  Vice-President  who  had  succeeded  to  the  presi- 
dential office  on  the  death  of  General  Taylor.  There 
were,  of  course,  many  Whigs  who  did  not  see  that  their 
party  was  dead  ;  and  these  were  relied  on  to  vote  for 


I/O  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Fillmore,    who  was  elected   with    Taylor  on    the    Whig 
ticket,  in   1848. 

Lincoln,  as  usual,  was  an  elector  from  his  State,  being 
at  the  head  of  the  Republican  electoral  ticket  in  Illinois. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  the  canvass,  speaking  from  one 
end  of  the  State  to  the  other,  almost  continually  through 
the  summer  of  1856.  His  speeches  were  remarkable  for 
their  clearness,  closeness  of  logic,  and  merciless  dissection 
of  the  arguments  and  measures  of  the  pro-slavery  Democ- 
racy under  the  local  leadership  of  Douglas.  There  was 
much  material  for  the  exercise  of  his  peculiar  powers. 
The  South  and  their  Democratic  allies  in  the  North  were 
forcing  slavery  into  the  territories,  and  the  work  of  their 
creatures  in  Kansas  had  deluged  that  region  with  blood. 
At  that  very  time  the  fair  young  territory  was  torn  and 
wounded  with  civil  war.  There  was  a  determination  to 
compel  the  people  of  the  territory  to  adopt  slavery  as  the 
rule,  although,  under  Douglas'  specious  plea  of  popular 
sovereignty,  the  question  was  to  be  left  to  the  whole 
people  to  choose  between  free  institutions  and  slavery. 
During  this  campaign,  while  Lincoln  was  speaking  in  one 
of  the  southern  counties  of  the  State,  where  the  pro-sla- 
very sentiment  was  yet  strong,  a  man  in  the  audience 
called  out  to  him  :  "  Mr.  Lincoln,  is  it  true  that  you 
entered  this  State  barefoot,  driving  a  yoke  of  oxen  ?  " 
Lincoln  paused  for  an  instant,  as  if  at  a  loss  whether  to 
take  notice  of  a  question  so  impertinent  and  so  evidently 
malicious,  and  then  said  that  he  presumed  that  there  were 
at  least  a  dozen  men  in  the  crowd  before  him  by  whom  he 


A    VIRULENT  CAMPAIGN.  \J\ 

could  prove  that  he  did,  if  this  were  needful  to  the  case 
in  hand.  But,  as  usual  when  he  was  interrupted,  he 
gathered  new  force  from  the  cruelty  of  the  attempt  to  dis- 
concert him,  and,  rising  to  his  full  height,  he  described 
with  glowing  eloquence  what  freedom  had  done  for  him, 
what  it  did  for  any  man,  and  showed  how  slavery  debased 
and  dragged  down  black  and  white  together ;  and  he 
asked  if  it  were  not  natural  that  he  should  hate  slavery 
and  continue  to  agitate  the  question  of  its  final  extinc- 
tion. "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  we  will  speak  for  freedom  and 
against  slavery,  as  long  as  the  Constitution  of  our  country 
guarantees  free  speech,  until  everywhere  on  this  broad 
land  the  sun  shall  shine,  and  the  rain  shall  fall,  and  the 
wind  shall  ,blow  upon  no  man  that  goes  forth  to  unre- 
quited toil." 

The  virulence  of  the  campaign  was  excessive.  In  de- 
fault of  arguments  with  which  to  overthrow  the  Repub- 
licans, the  pro-slavery  party  resorted  to  the  most  offensive 
epithets  and  phrases  to  hurl  at  the  opposition.  Fremont 
had  once  headed  an  expedition  to  California  across  the 
great  American  plains,  and  he  and  his  party  suffered  in- 
credible hardships.  He  had  opened  the  first  trail  across 
the  continent  through  the  then  trackless  wilderness.  His 
admiring  and  his  enthusiastic  followers  now  called  him 
"  The  Pathfinder."  To  them  he  was  a  gallant  hero.  The 
opposition  party  called  him  "  a  mule-eating  black  Repub- 
lican," and  his  party  was  known  as  "  The  Woolly-Horse 
Party,"  on  account  of  some  tales  of  a  woolly  horse  having 
been  found  by  the  explorers.  The  election  resulted,  as 


172  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  had  privately  predicted  that  it  would,  in  the  elec- 
tion of  James  Buchanan.  The  last  fight  for  freedom  had 
begun,  and  the  returns  showed  that  every  slave  State  but 
one  had  voted  for  the  Democratic  candidate.  The  total 
number  of  electoral  votes  for  Buchanan  was  174,  the  fol- 
lowing slave  States  having  voted  for  him  :  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisi- 
ana, Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennes- 
see, Texas,  Virginia.  The  free  States  for  Buchanan  were  : 
California,  Illinois,  Indiana,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania. 
The  free  States  voting  for  Fremont  were  :  Connecticut, 
Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  New  Hampshire, 
New  York,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont,  Wisconsin  ;  a 
total  of  1 14  votes  against  Buchanan's  174.  Maryland,  a 
slave  State,  cast  its  electoral  vote  of  eight  for  Fillmore. 
Thus  Buchanan  had  the  votes  of  fourteen  slave  States 
and  five  free  States ;  Fremont,  the  votes  of  eleven  free 
States ;  and  Fillmore,  that  of  one  slave  State.  Reckoning 
up  the  number  of  voters  in  all  the  States,  we  find  that 
Buchanan  had,  all  told,  1,838,169  votes,  Fremont  had 
1,341,264,  and  Fillmore  had  874, 5 34.  In  Illinois,  Bissell,  the 
Republican  candidate  for  governor,  was  elected,  although 
the  electoral  vote  of  the  State  was  given  to  Buchanan. 

Meanwhile,  the  fight  between  freedom  and  slavery  still 
went  on  in  Kansas.  The  pro-slavery  men,  by  denying 
the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  free-State  men,  managed  to 
elect  a  Legislature  which  assembled  at  Lecompton,  and 
which  was  known  as  "  the  bogus  Legislature."  A  State 
constitution  was  also  framed,  with  the  legalization  of 
slavery  in  it,  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  free-State  men 


KANSAS  RELUCTANT  TO   CONSENT  TO   SLAVERY.    173 

refused  to  recognize  the  legality  of  any  of  these  doings, 
or  to  participate  in  the  mock  elections.  They  called  a 
mass-meeting  of  the  actual  settlers,  elected  delegates  to  a 
constitutional  convention  which  assembled  at  Topeka 
and  framed  a  constitution  excluding  slavery  from  the 
territory.  Thenceforth  politicians  were  known  as  "  Le- 
compton  "  or  "  Anti-Lecompton,"  as  they  favored  or 
opposed  the  proposition  to  admit  slavery  into  Kansas. 
The  Topeka  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people 
and  almost  unanimously  adopted.  The  people  next 
proceeded  to  elect  officers  under  the  free-State  consti- 
tution. The  Topeka  constitution  was  the  work  of  the 
real  people  of  Kansas,  marshalled  in  numbers.  The 
Lecomptou  constitution  was  voted  for  by  a  mere  handful 
of  the  persons  nominally  resident  in  the  territory.  Both 
of  these  instruments  were  sent  to  Washington  for  the  ap- 
proval of  Congress.  Robert  J.  Walker,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed governor  of  the  territory  by  President  Buchanan, 
made  haste  to  go  to  Washington  to  protest  against  the 
acceptance  of  the  Lecompton  constitution,  as  he  knew  it 
to  be  false  and  fraudulent,  as  an  exposition  of  the  senti- 
ments and  wishes  of  the  people  of  the  territory.  Before 
he  reached  the  national  capital,  the  President  had  recom- 
mended Congress  to  accept  the  Lecompton  constitution, 
The  free-State  officers,  acting  under  the  Topeka  constitu- 
tion, were  declared  guilty  of  treason  and  were  arrested 
and  lodged  in  jail.  The  Legislature  was  dispersed  by  the 
regular  army  of  the  United  States,  acting  under  the  orders 
of  the  President.  Kansas  was  to  be  dragooned  into  ac- 
cepting slavery  as  a  State. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

LINCOLN   AND   DOUGLAS. 

The  Famous  Contest  for  the  Senatorship — A  Battle  of  Giants — Douglas 
and  Lincoln  Compared  —  Two  Self-Made  Men  —  Lincoln's  Auto- 
biography— A  Series  of  Famous  Debates — The  Country  Intent  on  the 
Struggle — A  Great  Lesson  in  American  Politics. 

ONCE  more  were  Lincoln  and  Douglas  to  be  pitted 
against  each  other.  In  1858,  the  senatorial  term 
of  Douglas  was  drawing  to  a  close.  He  desired  to  be  re- 
elected  and  to  have  the  endorsement  of  the  people  of 
Illinois.  Seeing  how  the  Lecompton  constitution  had 
been  lawlessly  framed,  and  realizing  that  slavery  thus 
forced  upon  Kansas  had  already  made  hosts  of  converts 
to  the  Republican  party,  he  had  begun  to  differ,  personal- 
ly, with  the  President.  He  soon,  by  his  votes  in  the  Sen- 
ate, showed  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  Lecompton  con- 
stitution. It  was  inconsistent  for  him  to  labor  against 
that  which  his  own  Kansas- Nebraska  Bill  had  made  possi- 
ble. But  this  he  did,  and  not  a  few  Republicans  in  the 
Eastern  States  thought  that  he  would  hereafter  be  with 
them.  They  advised  that  the  Illinois  Republicans  should 
vote  for  him.  He  was  now  an  anti-Lecompton  Democrat, 
as  the  phrase  went ;  he  was  sure,  so  they  thought,  for 


LINCOLN  NOMINATED  FOR  THE   SENATE.          175 

freedom  as  against  slavery.  The  Republicans  of  Illinois 
knew  Douglas  better.  They  refused  to  trust  him,  and 
when  their  convention  met,  June  16,  1858,  they  declared 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  their  first  and  only  choice  for 
the  United  States  Senate  to  fill  the  vacancy  about  to 
be  created  by  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Douglas'  term  of 
office.  The  anti-Lecompton  Democrats  of  the  State, 
two  months  before,  had  similarly  nominated  Douglas  to 
succeed  himself. 

Lincoln  realized  that  this  was  to  be  a  mighty  struggle. 
None  better  than  he  understood  and  appreciated  the  great 
abilities  and  craftiness  of  Douglas.  None  better  than  he 
knew  how  tender  the  people  of  Illinois  yet  were  on  the 
subject  of  human  slavery,  half  afraid  of  the  stale  epi- 
thet of  "  Abolitionist."  He  framed  his  speech  to  the  con- 
vention that  had  nominated  him,  putting  into  it  his  final 
platform,  the  platform  from  which  he  was  to  speak  to  the 
people  during  the  coming  canvass.  The  men  who  were  to 
choose  a  Senator — himself  or  Douglas — were  not  yet 
chosen,  except  a  few  in  the  upper  house,  who  held  over 
from  the  previous  year.  It  was  to  the  people  who  elected 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  the  Legislature  that  he 
and  Douglas  were  to  appeal.  Lincoln  read  the  manu- 
script of  his  speech  to  his  partner,  Mr.  W.  H.  Herndon. 
That  gentleman  was  somewhat  dismayed  by  the  very 
first  paragraph.  It  was  almost  an  endorsement  of  the  old 
anti-slavery  doctrine  of  disunion  ;  for  in  it  was  the  since- 
famous  declaration  :  "  A  house  divided  against  itself  can- 
not stand.  I  believe  this  government  cannot  endure  per- 


176  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

manently,  half  slave  and  half  free."  Mr.  Herndon  said 
this  was  all  true ;  but  he  was  doubtful  if  it  was  discreet 
to  say  so  at  that  time.  Alluding  to  the  phrase  "  a  house 
divided,"  etc.,  Lincoln  said  :  "  The  proposition  has  been 
true  for  six  thousand  years.  I  will  deliver  this  speech  as 
it  is  written."  And  he  did. 

In  the  course  of  that  address  he  said  :  "  I  do  not  ex- 
pect the  Union  to  be  dissolved.  I  do  not  expect  the 
house  to  fall.  But  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided. 
It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the  other.  Either  the 
opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it, 
and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief 
that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or  its  advo- 
cates will  push  it  forward  till  it  shall  become  lawful  in  all 
States,  old  as  well  as  new,  North  as  well  as  South." 

When  Douglas  opened  the  campaign,  as  he  did  in  Chi- 
cago early  in  the  following  month,  he  promptly  took  up 
this  utterance  of  Lincoln's  as  admitting,  and  even  advo- 
cating, a  war  of  sections,  North  against  the  South.  We 
shall  see  later  on  how  Lincoln  answered  this  misrepre- 
sentation. 

When  this  memorable  debate  began,  Lincoln  and  Doug- 
las were  both  in  the  full  maturity  of  their  physical  and 
intellectual  powers.  Douglas  was  forty-five  years  old,  and 
Lincoln  was  forty-nine.  Douglas  was  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont. He  had  been  apprenticed  to  a  cabinet-maker,  and 
had  migrated  at  the  age  of  twenty  to  Illinois,  where  he 
earned  his  first  money  as  a  clerk  at  an  auction  sale.  Like 
Lincoln,  then,  lie  was  a  self-made  man,  risen  to  eminence 


DOUGLAS  AND  LINCOLN  COMPARED.  177 

by  the  sheer  force  of  character  and  genius.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-two  he  was  elected  Attorney-General  of  the 
young  State.  Resigning  this  office,  he  was  chosen  to  the 
State  Legislature,  where  he  speedily  made  his  mark  as  a 
shrewd  politician,  a  ready  debater,  and  a  thoroughly 
"good  fellow."  Here  it  was  that  he  first  met  Lincoln — 
Lincoln  who  was  to  be  his  life-long  adversary  in  the  field 
of  American  politics.  Subsequently  he  was  elected  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  three  times  in  succession.  Before 
the  time  came  for  him  to  take  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  after  his  third  election,  Douglas  was 
chosen  Senator  of  the  United  States  from  Illinois.  He 
was  now  at  the  end  of  his  second  term  as  Senator,  and 
was  ready  to  appeal  to  the  people  to  choose  members  of 
the  Legislature  who  should  return  him  to  the  Senate. 
Douglas  was  frank,  hearty,  and  affable  in  his  manners.  Al- 
though in  debate  he  was  overbearing  and  imperious,  tow- 
ards his  friends  he  was  familiar,  and  even  affectionate. 
He  was  a  bold,  dashing,  and  fearless  debater,  fluent,  never 
hesitating  for  a  word  or  phrase,  aggressive,  and  sometimes 
arrogant,  full  of  all  manner  of  guile,  yet  impressing  every 
one  with  his  apparent  sincerity  and  transparency  of  char- 
acter. So  attractive  was  he  that  he  bound  his  friends  to 
him,  as  it  were,  with  hooks  of  steel.  Small  of  stature, 
with  long  and  grizzled  hair,  at  the  time  this  chapter  of 
history  opens  his  admirers  called  him  "  The  Little  Giant 
of  Illinois."  This  was  the  man  who  was  to  meet  Lincoln 
in  a  popular  canvass,  in  which  the  whole  State  was  to  be 
traversed. 


1/8  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  was,  as  we  know,  of  almost  herculean  build. 
His  head  was  massive,  poised  on  a  very  long  neck,  with 
stiff  and  obstinate  hair  that  usually  stood  up  in  irregular 
waves.  His  face  was  dark  and  seamed,  his  eyes  deep-set 
beneath  overhanging  and  shaggy  brows,  beardless,  and 
with  a  far-away  look  on  his  often-sad  features  at  times 
that  struck  even  the  most  casual  observer  as  profoundly 
pathetic.  His  manner,  when  he  was  alert,  was  bright,  and 
when  with  his  congenial  associates,  even  jovial.  In  speak- 
ing he  impressed  every  one  with  his  directness,  simplicity, 
good-sense,  clearness  of  statement,  wit  and  humor,  and 
purity  and  accuracy  of  language.  At  this  time  he  was 
asked  for  a  brief  biographical  sketch  of  himself.  He  com- 
plied with  the  following,  which  is  inserted  here  at  a  point 
that  must  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  crises  in  the  history 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  son  of  the  Kentucky  backwoods- 
man : 

"I  was  born  Feb.  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky. 
My  parents  were  both  born  in  Virginia,  of  undistinguished 
families — second  families,  perhaps  I  should  say.  My  mother, 
who  died  in  my  tenth  year,  was  of  a  family  of  the  name  of 
Hanks,  some  of  whom  now  reside  in  Adams,  and  others  in 
Macon,  counties,  Illinois.  My  paternal  grandfather,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  emigrated  from  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  to 
Kentucky  about  1781  or  '2,  where,  a  year  or  two  later,  he  was 
killed  by  Indians,  not  in  battle,  but  by  stealth,  when  he  was 
laboring  to  open  a  farm  in  the  forest.  His  ancestors,  who 
were  Quakers,  went  to  Virginia  from  Berks  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. An  effort  to  identify  them  with  the  New  England  fam- 
ily of  the  same  name  ended  in  nothing  more  definite  than  a 
similarity  of  Christian  names  in  both  families,  such  as  Enoch, 
Levi,  Mordecai,  Solomon,  Abraham,  and  the  like. 


LINCOLN'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

"  My  father,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  six  years  of 
age,  and  he  grew  up  literally  without  education.  He  removed 
from  Kentucky  to  what  is  now  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  in 
my  eighth  year.  We  reached  our  new  home  about  the  time 
the  State  came  into  the  Union.  It  was  a  wild  region  with 
many  bears  and  other  wild  animals  still  in  the  woods.  There 
I  grew  up.  There  were  some  schools,  so-called,  but  no  quali- 
fication was  ever  required  of  a  teacher  beyond  '  readin',  writ- 
in',  and  cipherin'  '  to  the  Rule  of  Three.  If  a  straggler 
supposed  to  understand  Latin  happened  to  sojourn  in  the 
neighborhood,  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  wizard.  There  was 
absolutely  nothing  to  excite  ambition  for  education.  Of  course, 
when  I  came  of  age  I  did  not  know  much.  Still,  somehow,  I 
could  read,  write,  and  cipher  to  the  Rule  of  Three  ;  but  that 
was  all.  I  have  not  been  to  school  since.  The  little  advance 
I  now  have  upon  this  store  of  education,  I  have  picked  up 
from  time  to  time  under  the  pressure  of  necessity. 

"  I  was  raised  to  farm  work,  which  I  continued  till  I  was 
twenty-two.  At  twenty-one  I  came  to  Illinois,  and  passed  the 
first  year  in  Macon  County.  Then  I  got  to  New  Salem,  at 
that  time  in  Sangamon,  now  in  Menard  County,  where  I  re- 
mained a  year  as  sort  of  clerk  in  a  store.  Then  came  the 
Black  Hawk  war,  and  I  was  elected  a  Captain  of  Volunteers, 
a  success  which  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  any  I  have  had 
since.  I  went  [through]  the  campaign,  was  elated,  ran  for  the 
Legislature  the  same  year  (1832),  and  was  beaten — the  only 
time  I  have  ever  been  beaten  by  the  people.  The  next  and 
three  succeeding  biennial  elections  I  was  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature. I  was  not  a  candidate  afterwards.  During  this  legis- 
lative period  I  had  studied  law,  and  removed  to  Springfield 
to  practise  it.  In  1846  I  was  once  elected  to  the  Lower  House 
of  Congress.  Was  not  a  candidate  for  re-election.  From 
1849  to  1854,  both  inclusive,  practised  law  more  assiduously 
than  ever  before.  Always  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  generally  on 
the  Whig  electoral  tickets,  making  active  canvasses.  I  was 
losing  interest  in  politics,  when  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 


180  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Compromise  aroused  me  again.     What  I  have  done  since  then 
is  pretty  well  known. 

"  If  any  personal  description  of  me  is  thought  desirable,  it  may 
be  said  I  am  in  height  six  feet  four  inches,  nearly  ;  lean  in 
flesh,  weighing,  on  an  average,  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  ; 
dark  complexion,  with  coarse  black  hair  and  gray  eyes.  No 
other  marks  or  brands  recollected. 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

Not  long  before  the  opening  of  the  debate  between 
Lincoln  and  Douglas,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  Chief-Justice  Taney  delivering  the  opinion,  had 
decided  virtually  that,  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  republic,  slavery  existed  in  all  the  territories,  and 
that  Congress  had  no  right  to  prohibit  it.  This  was  known 
as  the  Dred  Scot  decision.  A  negro  of  that  name  sued 
for  his  freedom  and  that  of  his  wife  and  children,  claiming 
that  his  having  been  carried  by  his  owner  into  a  territory 
north  of  the  northern  boundary  of  Missouri,  wherein 
slavery  was  excluded  by  the  Missouri  Compromise,  he 
had  become  freed  by  the  operation  of  the  law.  This  de- 
cision made  slavery  national,  freedom  local. 

Obviously,  then,  the  two  important  topics  before  the 
country  were  the  effect  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
would  have  upon  slavery  and  freedom,  and  the  struggle 
in  Kansas.  Although  Douglas  was  now  an  anti-Lecompton 
Democrat,  he  was  to  be  taken  to  task  before  the  country 
for  the  result  in  Kansas  of  his  advocacy  of  what  he  called 
popular  sovereignty.  This  had  made  the  Lecompton 
infamy  possible.  He  also  approved  the  Dred  Scott 


REPLYING  TO  DOUGLAS.  l8l 

decision  ;  but  the  dogma  laid  down  in  that  decision 
effectually  killed  his  own  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty. 
It  put  slavery  into  all  the  territories  of  the  United  States 
before  the  people  of  those  territories  could  have  an  op- 
portunity of  saying  whether  it  should  be  voted  up  or 
down. 

Replying  to  Douglas'  speech  in  which  that  orator  ac- 
cused Lincoln  of  advocating  disunion  of  the  States,  Lin- 
coln said  that  he  believed  that  the  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution expected  that,  in  course  of  time,  slavery  would 
become  extinct ;  they  had  decreed  that  slavery  should  not 
go  into  territory  where  it  had  not  already  gone,  and  that 
when  he  had  said  that  the  opponents  of  slavery  would 
place  that  institution  where  the  public  mind  would  rest  in 
the  expectation  of  its  ultimate  extinction,  he  only  meant 
to  say  that  they  would  place  it  where  the  fathers  of  the 
republic  originally  placed  it.  In  Douglas'  speech,  as 
was  common  in  those  days,  when  men  were  cornered  for 
want  of  logical  answers  to  Republican  arguments,  the 
speaker  had  intimated  that  Lincoln  was  in  favor  of  a  com- 
plete equality  of  the  black  and  the  white  races.  In  his 
reply,  Lincoln  said  :  "  I  protest,  now  and  forever,  against 
that  counterfeit  logic  which  presumes  that  because  I  do 
not  want  a  negro  woman  for  a  slave,  I  do  necessarily  want 
her  for  a  wife.  My  understanding  is  that  I  need  not  have 
her  for  either;  but,  as  God  made  us  separate,  we  can 
leave  one  another  alone,  and  do  one  another  much  good 
thereby." 

This  was  the  opening  of  the  great  debate  in  Chicago,  in 


1 82  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

the  summer  of  1858.  A  few  days  later,  Douglas  spoke  at 
Bloomington  and  then  in  Springfield,  on  each  occasion 
devoting  himself  to  Lincoln's  previous  speeches.  Lincoln 
spoke  in  Springfield,  also  ;  and,  addressing  himself  to  the 
expectation  that  Douglas  would,  some  day,  be  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  anxious  politicians  of 
his  party  were  waiting  for  that  event  with  great  hopeful- 
ness, Lincoln  said  : 

"  They  have  seen,  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful  face,  post- 
offices,  land-offices,  marshalships,  and  cabinet  appointments, 
chargeships  and  foreign  missions,  bursting  and  sprouting  out, 
in  wonderful  luxuriance,  ready  to  be  laid  hold  of  by  their 
greedy  hands.  And  as  they  have  been  gazing  upon  this  attrac- 
tive picture  so  long,  they  cannot,  in  the  little  distraction  that 
has  taken  place  in  the  party,  bring  themselves  to  give  up  the 
charming  hope  ;  but  with  greedier  anxiety  they  rush  about 
him,  sustain  him,  and  give  him  marches,  triumphal  entries,  and 
receptions,  beyond  what,  even  in  the  days  of  his  highest  pros- 
perity, they  could  have  brought  about  in  his  favor.  On  the 
contrary,  nobody  has  ever  expected  me  to  be  President.  In 
my  poor,  lean,  lank  face  nobody  has  ever  seen  that  any  cab- 
bages were  sprouting  out." 

All  this,  however,  was  a  contest  at  which  both  dispu- 
tants were,  so  to  speak,  at  arm's  length  from  each  other. 
Lincoln  wanted  a  closer  wrestle  with  "  the  little  giant." 
Accordingly,  he  addressed  a  note  to  Douglas  asking  him 
if  he  would  agree  to  a  joint  canvass  of  the  State,  each 
speaking  from  the  same  platform  and  each  having  his  own 
quota  of  time  alloted  him.  Douglas  objected  to  this  ar- 
rangement, several  reasons,  satisfactory  to  himself,  being 


FAMOUS  DEBATES.  183 

given.  But,  after  some  negotiation,  arrangements  were 
made  by  which  a  joint  debate  was  fixed  for  seven  different 
points,  the  first  being  at  Ottawa,  August  21,  1858,  and  the 
last  at  Alton,  October  ijth.  Meanwhile  both  speakers 
were  industriously  canvassing  the  State,  each  in  his  own 
way  and  independently  of  the  other. 

The  joint  debate  between  these  two  men  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  entire  country.  It  was  a  battle  of  the 
giants.  Nothing  like  it  has  ever  before  or  since  been  seen 
in  the  republic.  The  gravest  issues — those  of  freedom 
and  slavery — were  involved  in  the  discussion.  All  men 
saw  that  this  debate  was  likely  to  settle  the  greatest  ques- 
tion that  had  come  before  the  people  since  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  ;  not  that  it  would  settle  it  as  a  judi- 
cial decree  would  settle  it  ;  but  it  was  seen  that  out  of  this 
contest  must  issue  the  ultimate  truth,  the  truth  on  which 
parties  in  future  must  stand  or  fall.  Lincoln  travelled  in 
an  unostentatious  and  inexpensive  manner.  Douglas 
moved  from  point  to  point  on  a  special  railway  train,  ac- 
companied by  a  brass  band  and  cannon,  with  the  blare  and 
volleying  of  which  his  entrance  to  town  was  heralded. 
Douglas  did  not  always  observe  the  proprieties  of  de- 
bate ;  and  too  often  the  unmannerly  followers  of  "the 
little  giant  "  insolently  interrupted  the  opponent  of  their 
chieftain.  Lincoln  during  this  memorable  canvass  was 
shamefully  belied  and  misrepresented  ;  but  no  word  of 
remonstrance  or  complaint  ever  escaped  his  lips.  Doug- 
las resorted  to  the  use  of  unworthy  epithets  and  insinua- 
tions. He  continually  harped  on  the  assertion  that  the 


1 84  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Republicans  were  in  favor  of  negro  social  equality,  and  he 
invariably  referred  to  them  as  "  black  Republicans,"  and 
employed  other  terms  to  express  his  contempt.  Now  that 
we  can  look  back  upon  this  remarkable  episode  in  the 
history  of  American  politics,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
Lincoln's  bearing,  deportment,  and  general  behavior  were 
all  superior  to  Douglas'.  The  dignity,  immovable  good- 
humor,  and  gentleness  with  which  Lincoln  bore  himself 
commend  him  to  the  affection  and  respect  of  the  student 
of  history. 

Mr.  Douglas  in  these  debates  contended  that  each  State 
had  a  right  to  decide  for  itself  just  what  rights,  if  any,  it 
should  give  to  the  negro  ;  that  the  negro  had  no  natural 
equality ;  that  the  people  of  each  territory  had  a  right  to 
say  whether  they  would  have  slavery  or  not ;  and  that  the 
Union  and  the  government  could  exist  forever,  so  far  as  he 
could  see,  half  slave  and  half  free.  Especially  did  he  insist 
that  those  who  differed  with  him  were  in  favor  of  negro 
social  equality — the  admission  of  negroes  to  the  homes  and 
bosoms  of  those  who  were  in  favor  of  limiting  slavery  to 
the  States  in  which  it  then  existed,  or  of  excluding  it  from 
the  territories.  Lincoln,  on  the  other  hand,  planted  him- 
self squarely  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  that 
all  men  were  born  free,  and  that  they  all  had  certain 
rights  from  which  they  could  not  be  justly  deprived,  such 
as  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  The  negro 
he  insisted,  was  a  man.  Slavery  was  wrong,  and  it  should 
at  least  be  confined  in  the  States  in  which  it  already  ex- 
isted ;  it  should  not  be  the  natural  condition  of  things  in 


THE  DRED   SCOTT  DECISION.  185 

the  territories,  as  the  Dred  Scott  decision  made  it.  On 
this  point,  he  sharply  arraigned  Douglas  for  his  inconsist- 
ency. Douglas  clamored  for  popular  sovereignty,  the 
right  of  the  voters  in  a  territory  to  say  whether  slavery 
should  exist  with  them  or  not,  and  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion declared  that  slavery  was  already  in  the  territories. 
This,  said  Lincoln,  is  declaring  that  the  people  have  a  right 
to  drive  away  that  which  has  a  right  to  go  there. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  Douglas,  by  accepting 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  admitted  that  slavery  was  the 
natural  condition  of  things  in  a  territory,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  contended  for  the  right,  under  the  name  of  popu- 
lar sovereignty,  of  a  people  of  a  territory  to  say  whether 
they  would  have  that  which  they  already  had,  whether 
they  liked  it  or  not.  This  glaring  inconsistency  we  may 
be  sure  was  made  conspicuous  by  Lincoln's  merciless 
logic.  It  was  Lincoln's  manifest  purpose  to  compel  Doug- 
las to  desert  his  seeming  indifference  to  slavery,  and  to 
say  whether  he  thought  it  right  or  wrong  in  itself.  .  In  his 
view,  the  Dred  Scott  decision  and  the  Douglas  idea  of 
popular  sovereignty  could  not  be  held  together  in  one 
man's  belief.  So  he  framed  questions  designed  to  bring 
the  matter  before  Douglas  in  such  a  shape  as  to  oblige 
him  to  admit  or  deny  the  abstract  rights  of  slavery.  Lin- 
coln's friends  remonstrated  with  him.  "If  you  put  that 
question  to  him,"  they  said,  "  he  will  perceive  that  the 
answer,  giving  practical  force  and  effect  to  the  Dred  Scott 
decision  in  the  territories,  inevitably  loses  him  the  battle ; 
and  he  will  therefore  reply  by  offering  the  decision  as  an 


1 86  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

abstract  principle,  but  denying  its  practical  application. 
He  will  say  that  the  decision  is  just  and  right,  but  it  is  not 
to  be  put  into  force  and  effect  in  the  territories." — "  If  he 
takes  that  shoot,"  said  Lincoln,  "he  can  never  be  Presi- 
dent." Lincoln's  anxious  friends  replied:  "That  is  not 
your  lookout ;  you  are  after  the  senatorship." — "  No,  gen- 
tlemen," said  he,  "  I  am  killing  larger  game.  The  battle 
of  1860  is  worth  a  hundred  of  this." 

Did  Lincoln,  even  then,  see  so  far  ahead  as  to  perceive 
that  he  might  be  the  Republican  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency in  1860?  Did  he  see  that  it  was  necessary  that 
Douglas  should  be  "  killed  off,"  as  a  possible  Democratic 
candidate  against  him  ?  We  cannot  tell.  Lincoln  was  a 
wise  man,  and  some  of  his  sayings  were  like  prophecies. 
We  know  that  Lincoln  did  put  those  questions  to  Doug- 
las ;  that  Douglas  answered  them  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
ruin  his  chances  with  the  South,  which  was  watching  this 
contest  with  vigilance,  and  that  that  answer  made  his  sup- 
port by  the  South,  in  1860,  an  utter  impossibility. 

On  the  points  here  indicated,  the  seven  joint  debates 
usually  turned.  Everybody  felt  that  Lincoln  was,  to  use 
the  common  expression  of  the  country,  "  getting  the  best  " 
of  Douglas.  At  some  times,  indeed,  Douglas,  by  his  man- 
ner, showed  that  he  thought  so  too.  For  example,  at 
Charleston,  111.,  when  they  were  in  their  fourth  meeting, 
Lincoln's  reply  to  Douglas  was  powerful  and  intense  in 
its  vigor.  Douglas'  evasions  and  shifty  tricks  were  ex- 
posed with  a  clearness  of  logic  that  was  wonderful,  and  so 
convincing  that  everybody  saw  it  ;  even  Douglas'  friends 


DOUGLAS  LOSES  HIS  TEMPER.  187 

seemed  to  be  seized  with  a  panic,  and  the  great  assembly 
was  stirred  with  a  strange  tremor.  Douglas  realized  his 
overthrow,  his  inability  to  reply,  although  he  had  the  clos- 
ing of  that  day's  debate.  He  lost  his  temper,  left  his  seat, 
and,  watch  in  hand,  paced  up  and  down  the  rear  of  the 
platform,  behind  the  speaker,  his  impatience  manifest  in 
his  manner.  One  who  saw  the  remarkable  scene,  says  : 
"  He  was  greatly  agitated,  his  long  grizzled  hair  waving 
in  the  wind,  like  the  shaggy  locks  of  an  enraged  lion." 
This  took  place  when  Lincoln  was  striking  his  heaviest 
blows,  his  pitiless  reasoning  falling  like  a  maul,  as  some 
one  said,  upon  the  unresponsive  log  of  Douglas'  argument. 
The  instant  that  the  hands  of  Douglas'  watch  marked  the 
moment  for  Lincoln  to  stop,  he  turned  the  timepiece 
towards  Lincoln,  and  eagerly  cried  :  "  Sit  down,  Lincoln, 
sit  down  ;  your  time  is  up." 

Turning  his  face,  lighted  with  the  fire  of  his  own  inspi- 
ration, to  the  speaker  behind  him,  Lincoln  calmly  said  : 
"  I  will.  I  will  quit.  I  believe  my  time  is  up." — "  Yes," 
said  one  on  the  platform,  ';  Douglas  has  had  enough.  It 
is  time  you  let  him  up." 

These  debates,  as  we  have  said,  attracted  great  and 
earnest  attention  all  over  the  country.  They  were  made 
the  occasion  of  vast  outpourings  of  the  people  of  the  State 
and  of  the  neighboring  region.  The  two  men  were  always 
promptly  on  the  field  to  fulfil  their  engagements  ;  and  they 
invariably  found  a  tremendous  concourse  of  people  wait- 
ing to  hear  them.  In  those  days,  railroads  were  not  so 
numerous  as  now,  although  the  great  trunk  lines  were  in 


188  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

existence.  People  rode  long  distances  in  farm-wagons, 
and  the  neighborhood  of  a  town  in  which  one  of  the  great 
debates  was  to  be  held  indicated  the  deep  interest  that  the 
population  took  in  what  was  going  on.  Companies  of 
men  from  a  distance  camped  for  the  night  by  creeks  and 
under  the  trees,  patiently  enduring  fatigue  and  privation 
that  they  might  hear  the  mighty  truths  discussed  that  so 
intimately  concerned  the  national  well-being.  Never  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  the  republic  had  so  good  an  oppor- 
tunity come  for  the  teaching  of  the  common  people  the 
sublime  principles  that  underlie  our  free  government. 
Never  before  were  the  elementary  ideas  of  popular  gov- 
ernment so  lucidly,  so  eloquently,  and  so  attractively  set 
before  the  men  and  women  of  a  great,  thoughtful,  and 
liberty-loving  community.  The  echo  of  the  controversy 
penetrated  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  republic,  until 
weary  slaves  on  distant  plantations  heard  the  whisper  of 
their  coming  freedom  ;  for  this  was  but  a  preparation  of 
the  larger  struggle  that  was  to  come. 

When  the  joint  discussion  was  agreed  upon,  many  of 
Lincoln's  friends,  even  among  those  who  knew  him  well, 
were  timorous  of  the  future,  doubtful  of  the  result.  They 
loved  and  trusted  Lincoln,  but  they  were  afraid  of  Doug- 
las— Douglas,  the  powerful  and  influential  Senator,  who 
had  never  yet  been  defeated,  and  who  bore  down  all  op- 
position. Just  before  the  first  meeting  of  the  two  dis- 
putants, a  friend  of  Lincoln's  met  him  at  a  great  political 
gathering  in  Springfield,  and  expressed  to  him,  as  deli- 
cately as  possible,  the  fears  of  those  who  loved  him  so 


DOUGLAS  ELECTED   SENATOR.  189 

well,  for  Lincoln  was  ever  a  dearly  beloved  man  to  those 
who  knew  him.  Greeting  this  man,  and  hearing  from  him 
that  his  old  acquaintances  were  looking  forward  with 
some  anxiety  to  the  approaching  discussion,  a  shade  of 
sadness  flitted  over  Lincoln's  careworn  face  ;  then  a  light 
flashed  from  his  eyes,  and  his  lips  quivered.  In  the  half- 
jocular,  half-serious  manner  that  was  so  peculiar  to  him 
he  said,  with  lips  compressed  :  "  My  friend,  sit  down 
here  a  minute  and  I  will  tell  you  a  story.  You  and  I  have 
travelled  the  circuit  together,  attending  court,  and  have 
often  seen  two  men  about  to  fight.  One  of  them,  the  big 
or  the  little  giant,  as  the  case  may  be,  is  noisy  and  boast- 
ful ;  he  jumps  high  in  the  air  and  strikes  his  feet  together, 
smites  his  fists  together,  brags  about  what  he  is  going  to 
do,  and  tries  hard  to  skeer  the  other  man.  The  other  says 
not  a  word.  His  arms  are  at  his  side,  his  fists  are  clenched, 
his  teeth  set,  his  head  settled  firmly  on  his  shoulders ;  he 
saves  his  breath  and  strength  for  the  struggle.  This  man 
will  whip,  just  as  sure  as  the  fight  comes  off.  Good-bye, 
and  remember  what  I  say."  From  that  time  the  man 
who  sat  with  Lincoln  in  the  hotel  doorway  and  heard  the 
prophecy  from  his  unboastful  friend  never  doubted  that 
the  victory  would  be  with  the  speaker. 

Nevertheless,  Douglas  was  elected  United  States  Sena- 
tor. In  the  State  Legislature  were  several  Senators  hold- 
ing over  from  a  previous  year.  They  were  Democrats, 
although  the  districts  from  which  they  had  been  elected 
were  now  Republican.  The  dividing  of  the  State  into 
districts  was  also  unfair  to  the  party  that  supported  Lin- 


THE  LIFE   Of  LINCOLN. 

coin,  so  that  Democratic  votes  counted  for  more  in  the 
Legislature  than  the  same  number  of  Republican  votes. 
When  the  returns  were  all  in,  it  was  found  that  126,048 
had  voted  for  Lincoln  and  121,940  for  Douglas.  So,  al- 
though Douglas  was  subsequently  chosen  Senator  by  the 
Legislature,  Lincoln  won  the  moral  victory.  All  over  the 
republic  it  was  felt  that  he  had  come  off  conqueror  in  the 
field  of  debate,  had  worsted  the  hitherto  unconquerable 
Douglas,  "  The  Little  Giant,"  and  had  made  for  himself  a 
name  that  should  endure  so  long  as  men  love  liberty  and 
regard  justice.  In  one  of  the  later  speeches  of  this  won- 
derful debate,  Lincoln  said  :  "  I  say  to  you,  that  in  this 
mighty  issue,  it  is  nothing  to  the  mass  of  the  people  of  the 
nation  whether  Judge  Douglas  or  myself  are  or  shall  ever 
be  heard  of  after  this  night.  It  may  be  a  trifle  to  us,  but, 
in  connection  with  this  mighty  issue,  upon  which,  per- 
haps, hang  the  destinies  of  the  nation,  the  United  States 
senatorship  is  absolutely  nothing." 

During  this  debate,  many  points  made  by  Lincoln  were 
suggestive  of  his  early  training :  his  figures  of  speech  were 
almost  always  drawn  from  his  personal  experience  in  the 
backwoods,  on  the  farm,  or  from  his  more  recent  studies 
in  American  history.  To  one  who  has  followed  the  his- 
tory of  the  man,  an  examination  of  these  remarkable 
traces  of  Lincoln's  mental  habits  and  earlier  pursuits  is 
exceedingly  interesting.  For  example,  after  he  had  been 
admitted  to  the  bar,  noticing  the  frequent  use  of  the  word 
"  demonstrate,"  and  feeling  that  a  mathematical  proposi- 
tion, as  demonstrated,  was  a  good  illustration  of  the 


ILLUSTRATING  BY  GEOMETR^.  19! 

power  of  truth,  he  manfully  went  at  the  study  of  Euclid, 
and,  to  use  his  own  expression,  "  collared  it "  before  he 
left  it.  In  the  debates  with  Douglas  he  was  irritated 
with  Douglas'  constant  iteration  of  the  charge  that  he, 
Lincoln,  had  endorsed  certain  statements  of  Senator 
Trumbull's,  that  were,  as  Douglas  said,  untrue.  Finally 
Lincoln  said :  "  Why,  sir,  there  is  not  a  single  statement 
in  Trumbull's  speech  that  depends  on  Trumbull's  veracity. 
Why  does  not  Judge  Douglas  answer  the  facts?  .  .  . 
If  you  have  studied  geometry,  you  remember  that  by  a 
course  of  reasoning  Euclid  proves  that  all  the  angles  in  a 
triangle  are  equal  to  two  right  angles.  Euclid  has  shown 
how  to  work  it  out.  Now,  if  you  undertook  to  disprove 
that  proposition,  to  prove  that  it  was  erroneous,  would 
you  do  it  by  calling  Euclid  a  liar  ?  That  is  the  way 
Judge  Douglas  answers  Trumbull." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AFTER    A   GREAT   STRUGGLE. 

Condition  of  the  Two  Contestants — The  Crocodile  and  the  Negro — Douglas 
in  the  South — Lincoln  Nominated  by  Illinois  Republicans — The  Rail- 
Splitting  Candidate — Some  Pithy  Sayings — Lincoln  Speaks  in  New 
York — The  Man  From  Illinois. 

THE  election  was  over,  and  the  two  champions  were 
left  in  a  condition  that  varied  with  each.  It  had 
been  a  long  and  exhaustive  struggle,  but  it  was  observed  of 
Lincoln  that,  though  weary,  he  appeared  more  like  an  ath- 
lete just  entering  a  struggle,  not  just  coming  out  of  one. 
His  sinewy  form  was  as  erect  and  elastic  as  ever,  his  eye 
was  bright,  and  his  face,  though  naturally  sallow,  was  light- 
ed with  animation.  Here  his  early  training  and  abstemious 
habits  stood  him  in  good  stead.  He  had  "  never  applied 
hot  and  rebellious  liquors  to  his  blood,"  and  in  this  time 
of  sore  trial  he  came  out  unscathed.  The  hundred  days 
of  a  tense  and  exciting  canvass  left  no  mark  on  him. 
Douglas,  on  the  other  hand,  was  badly  shattered  ;  his 
voice  was  almost  gone,  and  he  scarcely  spoke  above  a 
whisper.  He  showed  great  fatigue,  and  he  sought  rest 
and  repose  as  soon  as  he  could  get  away  from  his  friends. 
But  Douglas,  too,  had  an  iron  constitution,  and  he  soon 

192 


THE  CROCODILE  AND  THE  NEGRO.  193 

rallied  his  physical  forces,  and  was  himself  again  after  a 
few  days  of  rest.  Later  on,  he  went  through  several  of 
the  Southern  States,  descending  towards  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  by  the  Mississippi  River.  At  various  points  down 
the  stream  he  was  received  with  acclaim,  and  his  speeches 
manifested  his.  desire  to  recover  with  the  slave-owning 
people  of  the  South  whatever  he  might  have  lost  in  the 
debate  on  the  free,  soil  of  Illinois.  He  said  at  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  for  example,  that  wherever  the  climate  and  soil  of 
a  State  or  Territory  made  it  for  the  interest  of  the  people 
to  encourage  slave  labor,  there  they  would  have  a  slave 
code.  At  that  time,  the  Buchanan  administration  cher- 
ished, among  other  darling  plans  for  the  acquisition  of 
more  slave  territory,  one  for  the  purchase  of  Cuba.  Doug- 
las said  that  this  was  necessary.  In  New  Orleans,  he  said 
that  wherever  a  race  showed  itself  incapable  of  self-gov- 
ernment, the  stronger  race  must  govern  it  ;  and  that  the 
negro  was  of  such  a  race.  Indeed,  his  speeches  were  all 
designed  to  strengthen  himself  with  men  who  believed  that 
slavery  was  right,  just,  and  needful  to  the  white  race. 

It  was  during  this  brief  tour  that  Douglas  made  use  of 
the  famous  "  crocodile  "  figure  of  speech,  afterwards  taken 
up  by  Lincoln.  Douglas  said  :  "  As  between  the  croco- 
dile and  the  negro,  I  take  the  side  of  the  negro  ;  but,  as 
between  the  negro  and  the  white  man,  I  would  go  for  the 
white  man,  every  time."  Lincoln,  at  home,  noted  that ; 
and  afterwards,  when  he  had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  re- 
mark, he  said  :  "  I  believe  that  this  is  a  sort  of  proposi- 
tion in  proportion,  which  may  be  stated  thus  :  '  As  the 


194  THE  LIFE  OF  UN  COL  ft. 

negro  is  to  the  white  man,  so  is  the  crocodile  to  the  negro  ; 
and  as  the  negro  may  rightfully  treat  the  crocodile  as  a 
beast  or  reptile,  so  the  white  man  may  rightfully  treat  the 
negro  as  a  beast  or  reptile.'  Now,  my  brother  Kentuck- 
ians,  who  believe  in  this,  you  ought  to  thank  Judge 
Douglas  for  having  put  that  in  a  much  more  taking  way 
than  any  of  yourselves  have  done." 

This,  however,  was  somewhat  later  .in  the  year.  Lin- 
coln now  belonged,  apparently,  to  politics.  He  resumed 
his  practice  of  law,  and  to  all  appearances  had  given  up 
thoughts  of  political  preferment  ;  but  he  did  not  conceal 
his  regret  at  the  failure  of  his  party  to  carry  the  Legisla- 
ture and  secure  his  own  election  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  When  asked  by  a  friend  how  he  felt  when  his 
defeat  was  assured  by  the  returns  of  the  election,  he  said, 
in  his  usual  good-natured  and  jocose  way,  that  he  felt 
"  like  the  boy  who  stubbed  his  toe,  too  badly  to  laugh,  and 
too  big  to  cry."  By  this  time,  we  must  remember,  he 
was  accustomed  to  defeat.  He  had  been  in  a  minority 
too  long  to  regard  the  victory  of  others  over  him  as  an 
unmixed  evil. 

Lincoln's  affability,  perfect  simplicity,  good-nature,  and 
home-like  freedom  of  manner  had  by  this  time  made  him, 
as  it  were,  an  inmate  of  every  household  in  the  West. 
Everybody  among  those  plain  people  recognized  him  as 
"  one  of  us,"  a  man  to  be  loved  and  admired,  and  not  at  a 
distance  either.  The  Lincoln-Douglas  debate,  however, 
gave  him  a  wider  fame.  The  speeches  had  been  so  exten- 
sively read,  and  the  joint  canvass  was  in  itself  so  unique  an 


THE  KIGftTS  0/  NATURALIZED   CITIZENS.         19$ 

affair  to  Eastern  people,  that  they  all  thought  they  knew 
now  the  two  men  who  had  figured  on  this  national  stage. 
Invitations  came  pouring  upon  Lincoln  from  all  over 
the  Northern  States,  seeking  to  secure  his  services  in  the 
battle  being  fought  in  each  State.  During  the  winter  of 
1858-9,  he  devoted  himself  to  his  own  private  affairs, 
listening,  we  may  suppose,  to  the  beating  of  the  popular 
heart  as  indicated  in  the  newspapers  and  in  the  political 
meetings  that  the  excited  condition  of  public  affairs  made 
it  necessary  to  hold  all  over  the  country. 

In  May,  1859,  he  was  called  upon  to  say,  as  a  possible 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  what  were  his  views  concern- 
ing the  attempts  made  in  some  States  to  curtail  the  polit- 
ical privileges  of  naturalized  foreigners.  Dr.  Theodor 
Canisius,  a  German  citizen  of  Illinois,  wrote  him  a  letter 
asking  him  what  he  thought  of  such  an  attempt  as  this, 
lately  made  in  Massachusetts.  Lincoln,  while  declining 
to  criticise  Massachusetts,  said  he  should  be  sorry  to  see 
any  such  proposition  brought  up  in  Illinois,  and  he  would 
oppose  it  wherever  he  had  the  right  to  do  so.  "  As  I  un- 
derstand the  spirit  of  our  institutions,"  said  he,  "  it  is 
designed  to  promote  the  elevation  of  men.  I  am,  there- 
fore, hostile  to  any  thing  that  tends  to  their  debasement. 
It  is  well  known  that  I  deplore  the  depressed  condition  of 
the  blacks,  and  it  would,  therefore,  be  very  inconsistent 
for  me  to  look  with  approval  upon  any  measure  that  in- 
fringes upon  the  inalienable  rights  of  white  men,  whether 
or  not  they  are  born  in  another  land  or  speak  a  different 
language  from  our  own." 


196  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

The  Republicans  of  Illinois  held  their  annual  conven- 
tion in  Decatur,  Macon  County,  May  10,  1859.  Lincoln 
was  present,  and  as  soon  as  his  tall  form  was  seen  on  the 
platform,  the  entire  assemblage,  forgetting  every  thing 
else,  rose  as  one  man  and  cheered  and  cheered  again,  un- 
til, as  one  who  was  present  has  said,  "  it  seemed  as  if  they 
never  would  stop."  Not  often  do  men  who  have  passed 
through  defeat  receive  such  a  greeting  as  that  given  to  the 
non-elected  candidate  for  United  States  Senator.  When 
order  was  restored,  the  Republican  Governor  of  the  State, 
Richard  Oglesby,  said  that  there  was  at  the  door  an  old- 
time  Macon  County  Democrat  who  had  a  contribution  to 
make  to  the  convention.  The  curiosity  of  the  delegates 
was  stimulated,  and  they  looked  to  see  two  ancient  fence 
rails,  decorated  with  ribbons  of  red,  white,  and  blue,  borne 
into  the  hall  by  Thomas  Hanks,  on  the  rails  being  in  the 
inscription  :  "  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Rail  Candidate  for 
the  Presidency  in  1860.  Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  three  thou- 
sand, made  in  1830  by  Thomas  Hanks  and  Abe  Lincoln, 
whose  father  was  the  first  pioneer  in  Macon  County." 
This  was  Lincoln's  first  public  nomination  to  the  presi- 
dency. The  effect  of  the  demonstration  can  only  be 
faintly  imagined. 

These  were  rails  split  by  Lincoln  and  Hanks  when,  as 
we  know,  young  Abraham  tarried  with  his  father,  after 
building  a  log  cabin  and  ploughing  their  first  field  in  Illi- 
nois, long  enough  to  fence  in  a  small  parcel  of  land  sown 
with  grain.  Years  after,  Lincoln  being  asked  if  he  sup- 
posed those  were  the  veritable  rails  that  he  and  Hanks 


THE  RAIL-SPLITTING   CANDIDATE.  197 

had  made,  said :  "  I  would  n't  make  my  affidavit  that  they 
were.  But  Hanks  and  I  did  make  rails  on  that  piece  of 
ground,  although  I  think  I  could  make  better  rails  now ; 
and  I  did  say  that  if  there  were  any  rails  that  we  had 
split,  I  would  n't  wonder  if  those  were  the  rails." 

Lincoln  did  not  believe  in  what  we  call  "  stage  tricks." 
and  he  was  not  greatly  pleased  with  the  rail  incident,  al- 
though he  was  gratified  by  the  enthusiasm  of  his  friends 
when  they  saw  this  evidence  of  his  humble  and  useful 
youthful  toil.  He  took  good  care  to  say  that  the  intro- 
duction of  these  reminders  of  the  past  life  of  the  young 
backwoodsman  was  a  surprise  to  him.  He  never  ceased 
to  be  sorry  that,  when  he  was  obliged  to  split  rails,  he 
could  not  have  been  in  college,  or  devoting  his  time  to 
great  and  useful  study.  But  for  all  that,  from  that  day 
forward  Lincoln  was  hailed  as  "  the  rail-splitter  of  Illi- 
nois." And  when  he  became  in  fact  a  regular  candidate 
before  the  people,  some  said  :  "  Will  he  split  the  Union 
as  he  used  to  split  rails  ?  " 

During  the  winter  of  1859-60,  Lincoln  visited,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  the  territory  of  Kansas,  for  which  he 
had  done  so  much.  Tremendous  enthusiasm  greeted  him 
wherever  he  appeared.  In  Leaven  worth,  it  is  said,  not- 
withstanding a  great  storm  that  raged  in  the  streets,  he 
was  met  by  a  great  procession  of  people  who  escorted  him 
to  his  hotel,  vast  throngs  being  gathered  on  the  sidewalks 
cheering,  every  available  coign  of  vantage  being  occupied 
by  persons  greedy  for  a  sight  of  him. 

In   September,    1859,   Lincoln    spoke   several   times  in 


198  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Ohio,  and,  being  near  the  Kentucky  border,  at  Cincinnati 
he  addressed  a  part  of  his  speech  to  natives  of  that  State, 
asking  them,  among  other  things,  what  they  would  do 
with  their  part  of  the  Union,  if  they  took  it  away,  as  they 
were  now  beginning  to  threaten  that  they  would.  "  Are 
you  going  to  keep  it  alongside  of  us  outrageous  fellows?" 
he  asked.  "  Or  are  you  going  to  build  up  a  wall,  some 
way,  between  your  country  and  ours,  by  which  that  mov- 
able property  of  yours  can't  come  over  here  any  more,  to 
the  danger  of  your  losing  it  ?  " 

Early  in  1860,  Lincoln  received  an  invitation  to  speak 
in  Plymouth  Church,  of  which  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was 
pastor,  in  Brooklyn.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  but  the 
place  of  assembling  was  subsequently  changed  to  the 
Cooper  Union,  one  of  the  largest  halls  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  filled  when  Lincoln,  somewhat  dismayed 
by  this  his  first  introduction  to  the  people  of  the  Eastern 
States,  rose  to  speak.  He  had  been  presented  to  the 
audience  by  William  Cullen  Bryant,  poet  and  editor.  On 
the  platform  and  around  him  were  some  of  the  great  men 
of  the  age  and  city — jurists,  scholars,  orators,  and  critics. 
He  had  prepared  a  very  different  sort  of  speech  from  that 
which  some  before  him  had  expected.  This  was  not  a 
crowd  to  be  amused  with  queer  stories,  rough  wit,  and 
comical  anecdotes.  The  speech  was  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable ever  delivered  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  was 
a  masterly  exposition  of  the  history  of  the  early  days  of 
the  republic  when  our  political  institutions  were  in  pro- 
cess of  formation,  special  reference  being  made  to  the  sla- 


LINCOLN  SPEAKS  IN  NEW  YORK.  199 

very  question,  as  then  considered.  It  was  a  scholarly,  skil- 
fully framed,  and  closely  logical  address.  His  style  of 
delivery  was  so  fresh  and  vigorous,  his  manner  of  illustra- 
tion so  clear  and  easily  understood,  that  the  audience 
drank  in  every  word  with  delight.  The  vast  auditorium 
was  as  hushed  as  death  (save  for  Lincoln's  own  voice), 
when  he  was  drawing  out  some  fine  point,  some  new  line 
of  argument  supported  by  facts  hitherto  unknown  or  for- 
gotten ;  and  irrepressible  thunders  of  applause  burst  forth 
when,  the  way  being  cleared,  the  proposition  sought  to  be 
established  was  set  before  the  people. 

This  is  the  testimony  of  one  who  was  present  on  that 
historic  occasion  :  "  When  Lincoln  rose  to  speak,  I  was 
greatly  disappointed.  He  was  tall,  tall — oh,  how  tall, 
and  so  angular  and  awkward  that  I  had,  for  an  instant,  a 
feeling  of  pity  for  so  ungainly  a  man.  His  clothes 
were  black  and  ill-fitting,  badly  wrinkled — as  if  they  had 
been  jammed  carelessly  into  a  small  trunk.  His  bushy 
head,  with  the  stiff  black  hair  thrown  back,  was  balanced 
on  a  long  and  lean  head-stalk,  and  when  he  raised  his 
hands  in  an  opening  gesture,  I  noticed  that  they  were 
very  large.  He  began  in  a  low  tone  of  voice — as  if  he 
were  used  to  speaking  out-doors,  and  was  afraid  of  speak- 
ing too  loud.  He  said,  '  Mr.  Cheerman,'  instead  of  '  Mr. 
Chairman,'  and  employed  many  other  words  with  an  old- 
fashioned  pronunciation.  I  said  to  myself :  '  Old  fellow, 
you  won't  do  ;  it  's  all  very  well  for  the  wild  West,  but 
this  will  never  go  down  in  New  York.'  But  pretty  soon 
he  began  to  get  into  his  subject  ;  he  straightened  up, 


200  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

made  regular  and  graceful  gestures  ;  his  face  lighted  as 
with  an  inward  fire  ;  the  whole  man  was  transfigured.  I 
forgot  his  clothes,  his  personal  appearance,  and  his  indi- 
vidual peculiarities.  Presently,  forgetting  myself,  I  was 
on  my  feet  with  the  rest,  yelling  like  a  wild  Indian,  cheer- 
ing this  wonderful  man.  In  the  close  parts  of  his  argu- 
ment, you  could  hear  the  gentle  sizzling  of  the  gas-burn- 
ers. When  he  reached  a  climax,  the  thunders  of  applause 
were  terrific.  It  was  a  great  speech.  When  I  came  out 
of  the  hall,  my  face  glowing  with  excitement  and  my 
frame  all  a-quiver,  a  friend,  with  his  eyes  aglow,  asked  me 
what  I  thought  of  Abe  Lincoln,  the  rail-splitter.  I  said : 
'  He  's  the  greatest  man  since  St.  Paul.'  And  I  think  so 
yet." 

The  impression  made  by  Lincoln  on  the  much-dreaded 
Eastern  people  was  highly  favorable  to  his  training, 
ability,  and  genius.  The  backwoodsman  at  last  had  con- 
quered one  of  the  most  critical  and  cultivated  audiences 
to  be  gathered  in  the  republic.  It  may  be  said  here  that 
Lincoln  took  for  his  theme,  that  night,  the  saying  of  his 
old  adversary,  Douglas  :  "  Our  fathers,  when  they  framed 
the  government  under  which  we  live,  understood  this 
question  [the  question  of  slavery]  just  as  well,  and  even 
better  than  we  do  now."  This,  as  Lincoln  said,  gave  him 
and  Douglas  a  common  starting-point  for  discussion.  His 
speech  was  devoted,  for  the  most  part,  to  an  inquiry  into 
what  the  fathers  who  framed  the  government  thought  of 
and  did  about  slavery  ;  and  he  showed,  by  conclusive  and 
irrefutable  argument  and  citations  from  history,  that  the 


THE  MAN  FROM  ILLINOIS.  2OI 

fathers,  whom  Douglas  so  confidently  referred  to,  acted  as 
though  they  believed  that  the  Federal  Government  had 
no  power  to  put  slavery  into  the  territories.  The  next 
section  of  his  speech  was  a  kindly  and  almost  affectionate 
address  to  the  people  of  the  South.  The  concluding  part 
was  addressed  to  Republicans,  and  he  closed  with  these 
words  :  "  Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty 
by  false  accusations  against  us,  nor  frightened  from 
it  by  menaces  of  destruction  to  the  government.  Let 
us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,  and  in  that  faith, 
let  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty,  as  we  understand 
it." 

All  who  read  or  heard  that  speech  marvelled  greatly  at  its 
pure  logic,  its  keen  analysis,  and  its  lucid  and  unimpeachable 
English.  It  was  widely  circulated  next  day  in  the  morn- 
ing newspapers  of  the  city,  and  went  far  and  wide  as  a 
campaign  document  from  the  rooms  of  the  Republican 
Committee.  A  professor  of  rhetoric  in  Yale  College 
came  to  hear  Lincoln.  He  was  so  impressed  by  what  he 
heard  that  he  took  out  his  note-book,  made  notes  of  the 
address,  and  next  day  gave  this  to  his  class  as  a  model ; 
and,  not  satisfied  with  that,  followed  him  to  Meriden, 
Conn.,  where  he  again  drank  in  the  orator's  marvellous 
eloquence.  All  this  was  to  Lincoln  "  very  extraordinary," 
as  he  expressed  it.  He  had  never,  in  his  modest  estimate 
of  his  own  abilities,  expected  to  create  any  such  marked 
impression  in  the  East.  He  had  imbibed  the  current 
half-jealous  notions  of  the  West,  whose  people  too  com- 
monly regarded  their  brothers  of  the  Eastern  States  as 


202 


THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 


more  likely  to  estimate  a  man  by  what  he  seemed  to  be 
than  what  he  did.  He  went  home  gratified  by  his  dis- 
covery that  he  was  recognized  as  an  original  and  powerful 
man,  gifted  with  genius,  and  commending  himself  to  the 
people  by  his  great-heartedness  and  native  nobility. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ELECTED   TO   THE   PRESIDENCY. 

Rending  of  the  Democratic  Party — The  National  Convention  of  1860 — 
Lincoln  Nominated  at  Chicago — A  Memorable  Scene — Popular  Enthu- 
siasm— Four  Tickets  in  the  Field — Lincoln's  Great  Triumph. 

IN  the  spring  of  1860  the  South  was  dismayed.  All 
hope  of  securing  Kansas  as  a  slave  State  was  gone.  A 
hostile  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives  made 
impossible  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the  odious  and 
fraudulent  Lecompton  Constitution.  The  purchase  of 
Cuba  was  now  also  impossible.  California  had  long  since 
been  admitted  as  a  free  State,  in  spite  of  the  threats  and 
promises  of  the  pro-slavery  administration.  All  schemes 
for  the  acquiring  of  new  territory  for  the  expansion  of  the 
slave  power  had  failed  utterly.  A  new  President  was 
about  to  be  chosen.  The  Democratic  party  was  rent  into 
two  seemingly  forever  irreconcilable  parties — Lecompton 
and  Anti-Lecompton.  Threats  of  secession  were  freely 
made.  Many  thought  that  these  were  mere  bluster, 
words  intended  to  be  taken  back  if  the  South  could  be 
reassured.  And  some  timorous  people  wanted  the  South 
to  be  reassured.  In  his  Cooper  Union  speech,  Lincoln, 
addressing  himself  to  the  threatening  class,  said  :  "  You 

203 


2O4  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

say  you  will  destroy  the  Union ;  and  then  you  say  the 
great  crime  of  having  destroyed  it  will  be  put  upon  us. 
That  is  cool.  A  highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear, 
and  mutters  through  his  teeth :  '  Stand  and  deliver,  or  I 
shall  kill  you,  and  then  you  will  be  a  murderer.'  To  be 
sure,  what  the  robber  demanded  of  me — my  money — was 
my  own  ;  but  it  was  no  more  my  own  than  my  vote  is  my 
own ;  and  a  threat  of  death  to  me  to  extort  my  money, 
and  threat  of  destruction  to  the  Union  to  extort  my  vote, 
can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in  principle." 

With  these  mutterings  in  the  air,  the  Democratic  con- 
vention to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  presidency 
assembled  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  April  23,  1860. 
It  does  not  now  seem  likely  that  the  Northern  and  the 
Southern  leaders  expected  to  be  able  to  unite  on  any 
candidate.  Douglas  was  the  one  man  most  prominent  in 
the  party.  The  Northern  Democrats  would  have  him  and 
no  other.  But  his  speeches  during  the  canvass  with 
Lincoln,  as  well  as  his  later  opposition  to  the  Lecompton 
Constitution  for  Kansas,  had  ruined  his  chances  with  the 
South.  Nothing  short  of  an  unconditional  declaration  in 
favor  of  slavery  would  satisfy  these  determined  champions 
of  slavery.  After  days  of  fruitless  discussion,  the  Demo- 
cratic convention  was  torn  into  pieces.  The  pro-slavery 
delegates  withdrew  in  a  body,  and  organized  in  another 
building  what  they  called  a  "constitutional  convention." 
No  nominations  were  made,  however,  at  that  time,  and 
the  convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  Richmond.  Virginia. 
The  other  wing  of  the  party  remained  in  convention  in 


THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL    CONVENTION.      205 

Charleston,  and,  after  fifty-seven  unsuccessful  ballotings, 
they,  too,  gave  it  up  and  adjourned  to  meet  in  Baltimore, 
June  i8th.  May  gth,  there  met  in  Baltimore  a  convention 
of  elderly  Whigs  and  "  Know-Nothings,"  who  nominated 
John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  for  President,  and  Edward  Ever- 
ett, of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President.  This  was  the 
so-called  conservative  ticket,  intended  to  pour  oil  on  the 
troubled  waters,  and  elect  a  President  that  should  have 
no  ideas,  no  notions,  no  policy,  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

The  Richmond  convention,  composed  of  pro-slavery 
Democrats,  nominated  John  C.  Breckenridge,  afterward  a 
rebel  general,  for  President.  Subsequently,  the  regular 
convention,  as  it  was  to  be  considered  (although  only  the 
anti-Lincoln  Democrats  were  left  in  it)  met  in  Baltimore, 
and  nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  President.  The 
breach  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  Democrats 
was  complete,  irreparable. 

There  was  intense  excitement  all  over  the  republic 
when  the  Republican  national  convjention  assembled  in 
Chicago,  June  17,  1860.  Everybody  felt  that  a  crisis  in 
the  affairs  of  the  nation  had  now  come.  The  Democratic 
party  was  hopelessly  divided  on  the  great  and  vital  ques- 
tion of  human  slavery.  At  that  time  there  were  nearly 
four  millions  of  human  beings  held  in  bondage  in  the 
United  States,  bought  and  sold  as  if  they  were  cattle,  or 
chattels.  The  States  in  which  slavery  was  recognized  as 
a  divine  and  righteous  institution  were  solidly  united  in 
an  attempt  to  force  that  institution  into  the  free  terri- 
tories, and  so  make  the  laws  of  the  free  republic  that  slave 


2O6  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

property  would  be  safe  everywhere,  that  black  men  and 
women  should  be  sacred  as  property  in  every  State  in  the 
Union,  and  no  fugitive  from  bondage  should  be  safe 
anywhere  on  any  rood  of  land  over  which  the  American 
flag  waved.  The  party  now  about  to  set  its  candidates  in 
the  field  was  irrevocably  opposed  to  the  further  extension 
of  the  alleged  rights  of  slavery  in  any  direction  whatever. 
No  man  could  be  nominated  by  that  party  who  was  not 
irretrievably  and  unmistakably  in  favor  of  the  funda- 
mental principle  to  which,  through  Lincoln's  advice,  it  had 
been  already  pledged,  that  "  all  men  are  endowed  by  their 
creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

The  city  of  Chicago  was  crowded  with  strangers  from 
every  part  of  the  United  States.  It  was  estimated  that 
twenty  thousand  people  were  gathered  in  and  around  the 
vast  building,  called  the  "  Wigwam,"  in  which  the  con- 
vention was  to  be  held,  only  a  small  portion  of  whom 
could  obtain  admittance.  The  platform  of  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  convention  contained  the  political  princi- 
ples that  had  already  been  announced  in  many  different 
forms  by  Lincoln,  during  his  unparalleled  canvass  of  the 
Northern  States.  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  of  Ohio,  an  old- 
time  anti-slavery  man,  offered  for  the  convention  one 
more  plank,  the  phrase  from  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence affirming  the  birthright  of  freedom  granted  to 
every  man.  Strange  to  say,  there  was  some  opposition 
to  the  adoption  of  this  immortal  sentence.  There  lin- 
gered in  the  convention  some  little  element  of  timidity 


THE  NOMINATIONS.  2O/ 

on  the  anti-slavery  issue.  A  few  men  in  the  party  were 
yet  afraid  of  being  confounded  with  the  long-hated  and 
dreaded  "  Abolitionists."  George  W.  Curtis,  an  impetu- 
ous and  eloquent  young  delegate  from  New  York,  made 
an  impassioned  plea  for  the  phrase  offered  by  Gid- 
dings.  It  was  accepted,  and  the  whole  series  of  ringing 
and  courageous  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  conven- 
tion amid  the  wildest  enthusiam.  A  tremendous  roar 
went  up  from  the  assembled  thousands  in  the  building. 
Other  throngs  without  took  up  the  cheer,  and  a  vast 
wave  of  sound  went  thundering  down  the  lake-side,  telling 
the  world  that  at  last  a  great  national  party  had  asserted 
in  unmistakable  language  the  right  of  man  to  freedom 

Then  the  balloting  began.  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts,  of 
New  York,  placed  before  the  convention  the  name  of 
William  H.  Seward,  of  that  State.  In  like  manner  Mr. 
Judd,  of  Illinois,  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln.  Mr. 
Dayton,  of  New  Jersey  ;  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio ;  Edward  Bates,  of 
Missouri  ;  and  John  McLean  of  Ohio,  were  subsequently 
named.  But  only  the  names  of  Seward  and  Lincoln,  the 
two  great  leaders  of  the  new  party,  provoked  much  en- 
thusiasm. When  these  were  mentioned,  their  friends 
sent  up  shouts  that  reverberated  like  the  surges  of  the 
sea  smiting  on  the  shore.  Now  the  audience  adjusted 
itself  to  the  real  business  of  the  day.  Telegraph  oper- 
ators sat  ready  with  their  instruments  to  send  the  news 
abroad.  An  army  of  newspaper  reporters,  their  pencils 
poised  to  note  events  that  were  coming,  crowded  the  plat- 


2O8  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

form  allotted  to  the  press.  The  air  was  hushed.  Every- 
body knew  that  the  supreme  moment  had  arrived.  A  great 
act  in  the  drama  of  national  history  was  about  to  begin. 
The  roll  of  the  States  was  called  for  the  first  ballot.  It 
was  evident  that  this  would  be  inconclusive  ;  but  every 
ear  was  strained  to  catch  the  slightest  whisper  from  the 
delegations  that  were  to  cast  the  vote  of  their  several 
States.  Now  and  again,  a  roar  of  applause  would  break 
forth,  as  if  the  delegates  were  unable  to  restrain  them- 
selves, intense  as  was  their  desire  to  hear  the  result  from 
each  other.  Such  a  burst  went  up  whenever  New  York 
steadily  cast  her  seventy  votes  for  Seward,  the  well-be- 
loved son  of  the  Empire  State.  And  such  a  burst  shook 
the  air  when  Indiana  and  Illinois  gave  their  solid  votes 
to  Lincoln.  The  first  ballot  was  as  follows  :  William  H. 
Seward,  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  and  a  half  ;  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  one  hundred  and  two ;  Edward  Bates, 
forty-eight  ;  Simon  Cameron,  fifty  and  a  half ;  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  forty-nine.  The  remaining  forty-two  votes  were 
scattered  among  John  McLean,  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  Wil- 
liam L.  Dayton,  John  M.  Reed,  Jacob  Collamer,  Charles 
Sumner,  and  John  C.  Fremont.  There  was  no  choice, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-three  of  the  total  four  hundred 
and  sixty-five  votes  cast  being  necessary  to  nominate. 

On  the  second  ballot,  Lincoln  gained  seventy-nine  votes 
from  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  Pennsylvania,  re- 
ceiving one  hundred  and  eighty-one,  all  told.  Seward 
gained  eleven,  having  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  and  a 
half,  all  told.  The  third  ballot  began  amid  the  most 


LINCOLN  NOMINATED.  2OO, 

tense  interest,  for  all  felt  that  this  must  determine  the 
contest  for  the  nomination.  Thousands  on  the  floor  and 
in  the  galleries  followed  the  ballotings  with  their  pencils, 
silently  keeping  tally  of  the  votes  as  they  were  an- 
nounced to  the  chairman  by  the  spokesman  of  the  several 
delegations  of  the  States.  Before  the  secretaries  could 
figure  up  and  verify  the  result,  it  was  whispered  about 
the  convention,  which  fairly  trembled  with  suppressed  ex- 
citement, that  Lincoln  came  near  to  a  nomination.  He 
had  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  and  a  half  votes,  lack- 
ing only  a  vote  and  a  half  of  the  nomination.  Then, 
while  the  house  was  as  still  as  if  it  were  empty,  Mr.  Cart- 
ter,  of  Ohio,  rose  and  said  that  four  of  the  votes  of  that 
State  were  changed  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  work  was 
done.  Lincoln  was  nominated. 

Turning  his  face  upward  to  a  skylight  in  the  roof,  where 
stood  an  intent  watchman,  one  of  the  secretaries  cried, 
"  Fire  the  salute !  Lincoln  is  nominated ! "  The  elate 
watchman  fled  along  the  roof  of  the  Wigwam  and  shouted 
the  glad  tidings  to  those  below.  Inside  the  building,  after 
an  instant's  pause,  like  that  in  the  midst  of  a  storm,  a 
hurricane  of  enthusiasm,  almost  maddening,  broke  forth. 
Men  flung  away  their  hats,  danced  in  a  wild  delirium  of 
delight,  hugged  and  kissed  each  other,  and  cheered  and 
cheered  again,  as  if  they  could  find  no  vent  to  their  over- 
powering joy.  The  vast  Wigwam  shook  with  the  torrent 
of  noise.  Without,  surging  crowds  broke  forth  into 
answering  roars  as  the  cheering  inside  died  away,  and  this 
was  taken  up  by  those  within,  and  thus  tumult  replied  to 


2IO  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

tumult.  On  the  roof  of  a  great  hotel,  not  far  away,  a 
battery  of  cannon  volleyed  and  thundered  ;  the  multi- 
tudinous wave  of  sound  spread  through  the  city,  its 
streets  and  lanes,  and  drifted  far  over  Lake  Michigan,  tell- 
ing the  world  that  Lincoln,  the  beloved,  the  great,  grand 
man,  scarce  known  outside  of  his  own  republic,  was 
nominated.  And  in  this  way,  the  son  of  Thomas  Lin- 
coln, the  backwoodsman,  stepped  out  upon  the  mighty 
stage  on  which  was  to  be  enacted  one  of  the  most  tre- 
mendous tragedies  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

The  convention  adjourned  for  an  hour,  and  later  in  the 
day,  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  nominated  for 
Vice-President  with  Lincoln.  At  home,  in  Springfield, 
Lincoln  waited  in  a  newspaper  office,  surrounded  by 
friends,  for  the  news  that  should  make  him  the  national 
candidate  of  his  party,  or  place  him  on  the  retired  list  of 
American  politicians.  At  last,  a  messenger,  bearing  the 
fateful  message  in  his  hand,  came  in  from  the  telegraph 
office,  with  difficulty  keeping  his  face  from  showing  his 
inward  excitement.  With  great  solemnity,  he  advanced 
to  Lincoln's  side  and  said  :  "The  convention  has  made  a 
nomination,  and  Seward  is — the  second  man  on  the  list." 
Then  jumping  on  a  table,  he  cried:  "Three  cheers  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  the  next  President  of  the  United 
States !  "  We  can  imagine  with  what  a  hearty  good-will 
those  cheers  were  given,  and  how  the  notes  thereof  rang 
out  in  the  streets  of  Springfield  and  were  echoed  far  and 
wide.  After  shaking  hands  with  his  friends  and  receiving 
their  fervent  congratulations,  Lincoln  pocketed  the  tele- 


POP  ULA  R   EN  TJH  USIA  SM.  2  I  I 

gram,  and,  saying  "  There  is  a  little  woman  on  Eighth 
street  who  would  like  to  hear  about  this,"  walked  home 
to  tell  the  news  to  his  household. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  convention  to  give  Lincoln  for- 
mal and  official  notice  of  his  nomination.  A  committee, 
with  Mr.  George  Ashmun,  of  Massachusetts,  at  its  head, 
was  accordingly  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  nominee  and 
serve  him  with  the  usual  notice.  Meantime,  however,  the 
citizens  of  Springfield  had  fired  a  salute  of  one  hundred 
guns  to  speak  their  joy  over  the  nomination  of  one  who 
was  undoubtedly  their  popular  idol.  Then  a  vast  con- 
course of  the  people  streamed  up  the  street  where  Lin- 
coln's humble  cottage  stood,  and  invaded  the  hospitable 
home,  as  many  as  could  crowd  in,  eager  to  take  his  hand 
and  tell  him  how  glad  they  were  that  this  great  honor 
had  been  laid  upon  him.  Some  of  his  devoted  Springfield 
admirers,  thinking  that  a  delegation  from  the  great 
national  convention  would  expect  to  receive  a  more  lib- 
eral supply  of  refreshment  than  the  total  abstainers  of  the 
Lincoln  family  would  be  likely  to  have  in  the  house,  sent 
him  a  supply  of  wines  for  this  occasion.  These  unfa- 
miliar fluids  gave  Lincoln  some  uneasiness,  and,  accepting 
the  advice  of  another,  he  sent  them  to  their  donors,  with 
a  courteous  explanation  of  his  inability  to  use  them.  He 
had  never  offered  wines  to  his  friends ;  he  could  not  do  it 
now.  The  committee  arrived.  They  drank  the  health 
of  the  President  that  was  to  be,  in  water  from  the  spring. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  Lincoln  wrote  a  formal  letter  ac- 
cepting the  nomination  to  the  presidency.  It  was  a  very 


212  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

short  and  straightforward  document.  He  accepted  the 
platform  of-  principles  laid  down  by  the  convention  and 
concluded  in  the  following  words:  "  Imploring  the  assist- 
ance of  Divine  Providence,  and  with  due  regard  to  the 
views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were  represented  in  the 
convention,  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States  and  Territories 
and  people  of  the  nation,  to  the  inviolability  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  the  perpetual  union,  harmony,  and  prosper- 
ity of  all,  I  am  most  happy  to  co-operate  for  the  practi- 
cal success  of  the  principles  declared  by  the  convention." 
The  presidential  canvass  of  that  year  was  unique  in  the 
history  of  the  American  republic.  The  enthusiasm  of 
the  people  of  the  free  States  broke  over  all  bounds.  To 
use  a  common  Western  expression,  it  swept  the  country 
like  a  prairie  fire.  The  friends  of  freedom  organized 
semi-military  companies,  the  like  of  which  have  appeared 
in  political  campaigns  since  that  day.  These  were  called 
"  Wide-awakes,"  and  uniformed  and  carrying  torches  at 
night,  or  bannerets  in  the  daytime,  they  turned  out  in 
vast  numbers  whenever  there  was  a  demonstration  by  the 
Republicans ;  and  this  was  very  often.  Campaign  songs 
were  composed,  set  to  music,  and  sung  all  over  the  North, 
the  rousing  choruses  being  taken  up  and  made  as  familiar 
to  everybody  as  household  words.  The  log-cabin  of  the 
Harrison  campaign  was  brought  out  to  do  duty  again  as 
a  token  of  the  humble  origin  of  the  candidate.  Rails 
and  rail-splitting  were  popular  symbols,  and  innumerable 
devices  were  invented  to  rouse  to  a  still  higher  pitch  the 
fervor  of  the  Republicans,  and  to  sweep  into  the  on-rush- 
ing wave  the  halting  and  the  vacillating. 


214  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  there  was  no  opposi- 
tion to  Lincoln.  On  the  contrary,  as  the  election  returns 
showed,  there  was  a  very  strong  opposition ;  and  the 
leaders  of  this  party  manifested  their  hatred  of  the  Re- 
publicans and  their  candidate  by  the  most  violent  and 
abusive  language.  The  terms  "  Black  Republicans," 
"  Negro  Lovers,"  and  the  like  were  among  the  least  offen- 
sive of  the  epithets  showered  upon  the  members  and  can- 
didates of  the  new,  aggressive  party.  Douglas,  to  the 
surprise  of  many  of  his  best  friends  and  followers,  took 
the  stump  in  his  own  behalf.  It  had  never  been  the 
usage  for  a  presidential  candidate  to  speak  in  advocacy 
of  his  own  election,  although  men  had  often  done  this, 
especially  in  the  West,  when  they  were  candidates  for 
less  important  offices.  Many  felt  that  this  was  a  doubt- 
ful experiment  for  Douglas  to  make ;  and  many  said  that 
it  showed  how  desperate  was  his  case.  His  speeches 
were  designed  to  prove  that  he  was  the  only  safe  candi- 
date before  the  people,  Breckinridge  representing  the  sec- 
tionalism of  slavery,  and  Lincoln  the  sectionalism  of  anti- 
slavery  ;  but  it  appeared  that  both  sections  of  the  country 
had  resolved  to  have  no  more  experiments.  This  time, 
the  question  of  slavery  extension  or  slavery  limitation 
was  to  be  settled  forever. 

Lincoln  stayed  quietly  at  home,  although  he  was  some- 
times wellnigh  overwhelmed  with  visitors  from  every 
part  of  the  Union.  Some  of  these  came  from  idle  curios- 
ity ;  some  to  put  in  a  good  word  for  themselves,  in  case 
the  candidate  should  be  chosen  and  have  offices  to  fill. 


LINCOLN'S  ELECTION.  ~2\ 5 

Others  came  honestly  encouraging  the  candidate,  now 
widely  celebrated  and  so  greatly  loved  as  a  man  of  the 
people.  A  handsome  room  in  the  State  capitol  was  as- 
signed to  Lincoln,  and  here  he  received  his  visitors  dur- 
ing the  exciting  months  that  intervened  between  the 
nomination  in  June  and  the  election  in  November.  But 
he  made  no  speeches,  and  refrained,  with  his  usual  wis- 
dom, from  making  any  public  demonstration  whatever. 

When  the  votes  were  in,  at  the  end  of  that  famous 
canvass,  it  was  found  that  Lincoln  had  one  hundred  and 
eighty  of  the  electoral  votes  of  the  States;  and  1,866,- 
452  men  had  voted  for  him.  Breckinridge  had  seventy- 
two  electoral  votes ;  and  he  had  been  the  express  choice 
of  847,953  voters.  Douglas  had  twelve  electoral  votes; 
his  popular  vote  was  1,375,157.  Bell  had  thirty-nine 
electoral  votes;  and  a  popular  vote  of  590,631.  -Lincoln 
had  received  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes,  but  it  will 
be  noticed  that  he  had  not  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  of 
the  people,  the  four  candidates  in  the  field  having  divided 
the  popular  votes  unusually ;  but,  notwithstanding  this, 
he  had  the  largest  popular  vote  that  had  been  polled,  at 
that  time,  for  any  presidential  candidate. 

Lincoln  took  his  election  with  a  composure  not  un- 
tinged  with  sadness.  A  tremendous  responsibility  was 
now  certain  to  be  placed  upon  him.  The  South  had 
openly  and  repeatedly  declared  an  intention  to  break 
up  the  Union  by  leaving  it,  in  case  of  the  election  of  the 
Republican  candidate.  He  was  oppressed  with  many 
weighty  and  anxious  thoughts.  On  the  day  when  the 


2l6  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

news  came  of  his  triumph,  a  strange  thing  happened  to 
him.  Years  after,  when  he  had  been  nominated  and 
elected  a  second  time  to  the  presidency,  he  told  this 
story  to  the  writer  of  these  pages : 

"It  was  just  after  my  election  in  1860,  when  the  news  had 
been  coming  in  thick  and  fast  all  day,  and  there  had  been  a 
great  '  Hurrah,  boys  ! '  so  that  I  was  well  tired  out,  and  went 
home  to  rest,  throwing  myself  down  on  a  lounge  in  my  cham- 
ber. Opposite  where  1  lay  was  a  bureau,  with  a  swinging  glass 
upon  it" — (and  here  he  got  up  and  placed  furniture  to  illus- 
trate the  position) — "  and,  looking  in  that  glass,  I  saw  myself 
reflected,  nearly  at  full  length  ;  but  my  face,  I  noticed,  had  two 
separate  and  distinct  images,  the  tip  of  the  nose  of  one  being 
about  three  inches  from  the  tip  of  the  other.  I  was  a  little 
bothered,  perhaps  startled,  and  got  up  and  looked  in  the  glass, 
but  the  illusion  vanished.  On  lying  down  again  I  saw  it  a  sec- 
ond time — plainer,  if  possible,  than  before  ;  and  then  I  noticed 
that  one. of  the  faces  was  a  little  paler,  say  five  shades,  than 
the  other.  I  got  up  and  the  thing  melted  away,  and  I  went  off 
and,  in  the  excitement  of  the  hour,  forgot  all  about  it — nearly, 
but  not  quite,  for  the  thing  would  once  in  a  while  come  up, 
and  give  me  a  little  pang,  as  though  something  uncomfortable 
had  happened.  Later  in  the  day,  I  told  my  wife  about  it, 
and  a  few  days  after  I  tried  the  experiment  again,  when  [with 
a  laugh],  sure  enough,  the  thing  came  again  ;  but  I  never  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  the  ghost  back  after  that,  though  I  once 
tried  very  industriously  to  show  it  to  my  wife,  who  was  worried 
about  it  somewhat.  She  thought  it  was  '  a  sign  '  that  I  was  to 
be  elected  to  a  second  term  of  office,  and  that  the  paleness  of 
one  of  the  faces  was  an  omen  that  I  should  not  see  life  through 
the  last  term." 

With  his  usual  good-sense,  Lincoln  studied  this  for  a 
while  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  an  optical 


AN  OPTICAL  ILLUSION. 


217 


illusion  caused  by  a  flaw  in  the  mirror.  Mrs.  Lincoln 
thought  it  was  "a  warning,"  and  that  it  signified  that  her 
husband  would  have  to  be  twice  President  and  would  not 
live  through  his  second  term.  As  both  of  these  persons 
talked  with  the  writer  about  the  matter,  and  this  story 
was  told  in  an  article  written  by  him  in  Harper  s  Magazine, 
in  July,  1865,  while  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  yet  alive  to  see  it, 
the  facts  are  here  set  down  as  originally  stated. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

AFTER   THE   ELECTION. 

The  President-Elect  and  the  Office-Seekers — A  Policy  Demanded — Trea- 
son in  Buchanan's  Cabinet — Organization  of  the  Rebel  Confederacy — 
Alarm  in  the  North— The  Star  of  the  West  Fired  On— A  Peace 
Congress  in  the  Face  of  War. 

IT  is  difficult  for  anybody,  at  this  distance  of  time,  and 
when  all  things  are  at  peace  throughout  the  repub- 
lic, to  realize  how  great  was  the  burden  placed  upon  Lin- 
coln by  his  election  to  the  presidency.  There  were  two 
great  troubles — the  office-seekers  and  the  impending  war. 
The  first  of  these,  of  course,  was  the  smaller,  but  it  was 
none  the  less  a  grievous  trial.  For,  in  addition  to  the 
strain  that  it  brought  upon  his  patience,  it  interfered  very 
seriously  with  his  attempt  to  think  over  the  greater 
and  far  more  trying  questions  that  must  soon  be  settled. 
Lincoln  was  good-natured,  patient,  kind,  desirous  of  doing 
whatever  was  asked  of  him,  in  reason.  It  was  always  irk- 
some for  him  to  refuse  a  favor,  even  when  the  petitioner 
was  not  altogether  reasonable  or  deserving.  He  disliked 
to  refer  applicants  to  others,  his  subordinates.  He  never 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  any  petitioner,  however  humble, 
however  importunate.  It  was  truly  said  of  him  that  his 

213 


DISAPPOINTED    OFFICE-SEEKERS.  219 

patience  was  almost  infinite.  It  is  easy  to  see,  therefore, 
how  difficult  it  was  for  his  immediate  friends  to  protect 
him  from  the  incursions  of  curiosity-seeking  and  office- 
seeking  visitors,  then  and  afterwards. 

But,  with  all  his  good-humored  and  cheerful  manner 
towards  those  who  came,  it  soon  became  evident  that  he 
did  not  intend  to  promise  places  as  readily  as  a  spend- 
thrift, newly  come  into  an  inheritance,  might  spread 
abroad  his  gold.  He  was  sublimely  wise  in  his  treatment 
of  all  who  came  to  him,  listening  to  their  "  claims  "  (for 
all  had  these),  and  always  manifesting  the  native  kindness 
that  distinguished  him.  But  men  who  had  been  on  famil- 
iar terms  with  him,  who  had  met  him  "  riding  the  circuit," 
had  listened  to  his  unfailing  good  stories,  had  done  his 
party  real  service  in  the  late  fight,  or  had  been  friendly 
neighbors,  soon  learned  that  these  were  not  sufficient  to 
extort  from  him  the  promise  of  a  good  office,  when  he 
should  be  in  the  place  where  offices  were  to.  be  given  out. 
He  manifested  his  generosity  towards  his  opponents  by 
sketching  out  a  programme  that  included  in  the  office- 
holders of  his  administration  many  who  had  opposed  the 
Republican  party  in  its  very  latest  canvass.  He  would 
have,  if  possible,  one  or  two  Southern  men  of  prominence 
in  his  Cabinet ;  and  he  would  not  disturb  many,  then  in 
office,  who  had  proved  themselves  honest,  faithful,  and 
competent  public  servants.  When  this  outline  of  policy 
was  disclosed,  some  of  his  friends  were  not  only  disap- 
pointed, but  irritated.  Not  that  they  wanted  offices  for 
themselves  or  their  associates,  but  it  was  contrary  to  the 


22O  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

policy  and  the  practice  of  the  time  and  of  all  who  had 
occupied  the  presidential  office  in  recent  years.  Nobody 
had  then  even  suggested  that  variety  of  reform  that  was 
afterwards  known  as  the  Civil-Service  Reform.  A  Demo- 
cratic Secretary  of  State,  William  L.  Marcy,  had  invented 
the  taking  phrase,  "To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  and 
Democratic  Presidents,  from  Andrew  Jackson  down,  had 
rigidly  enforced  the  doctrine  taught  by  that  maxim. 
President  Buchanan  had  been  unusually  severe  in  his 
treatment  of  office-holders  who  differed  with  him  and 
his  administration  in  matters  of  political  policy.  Dur- 
ing the  time  when  the  schism  in  the  Democratic  party 
was  widening  the  breach  between  "  Lecompton  Dem- 
ocrats" and  "Anti-Lecompton  Democrats,"  Buchanan 
and  his  secretaries  had  made  strict  inquisition  among  all 
office-holders  for  those  who  espoused  the  cause  of  Doug- 
las and  those  who  represented  what  was  loosely  called 
Douglas  Democracy.  In  California,  for  example,  David 
C.  Broderick,  an  Anti-Lecompton  Democrat,  and  a  friend 
of  Douglas,  had  been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
The  other  Senator  from  that  State  was  William  M.  Gwin, 
a  Southerner  by  birth  and  devoted  to  the  slave-holding 
interest.  All  the  official  patronage  of  the  State  was 
handed  over  to  Gwin,  and  the  recommendations  to  office 
by  Broderick  were  treated  with  contemptuous  indiffer- 
ence. In  course  of  time,  so  furious  were  the  Lecompton 
Democrats  against  their  opponents  within  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  Broderick  was  inveigled  into  a  duel  by  the 
friends  of  the  Buchanan  administration,  and  was  cruelly 


A    CLEAN  SWEEP    WANTED.  221 

killed  by  a  judge,  who,  when  the  war  broke  out,  became 
an  officer  in  the  rebel  army. 

In  such  a  condition  of  affairs  as  this,  with  all  the  public 
offices  filled  with  the  appointees  of  a  prescriptive  and  un- 
relenting partisan  administration,  most  Republican  leaders 
were  unable  to  see  why  Lincoln  should  hesitate  to  make 
"  a  clean  sweep  "  when  he  came  into  power.  Of  course, 
those  patriotic  gentlemen  who  had  expected  the  rewards 
of  office  could  not  possibly  understand  why  a  single 
Democrat  should  be  allowed  to  stay  in  office  after  the 
newly  elected  President  should  himself  be  fairly  installed ; 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  there  were  many  of 
these  applicants  who,  temporarily,  at  least,  were  more  con- 
cerned about  the  just  disposition  of  the  offices  than  they 
were  about  the  condition  of  the  whole  country,  now 
trembling  on  the  brink  of  civil  war.  Then,  again,  since 
matters  had  grown  so  grave,  thousands  of  well-meaning 
people  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  know  what  Lincoln 
proposed  to  do,  in  case  the  Southern  States  should 
secede  from  the  Union.  Would  he  make  any  conces- 
sions in  order  to  keep  them  from  taking  this  step  ? 
What  would  he  offer  them  to  induce  them  to  stay  in 
the  Union  ?  There  were  many  ready  to  advise  the  Presi- 
dent-elect ;  and  some  of  them  offered  the  most  fantas- 
tic counsel.  More  than  one  timorous  soul  proposed 
that,  now  that  the  principle  of  self-government  had  been 
vindicated  at  the  polls,  and  the  people  had  expressed 
their  hostility  to  slavery,  Lincoln  might  show  his  mag- 
nanimity and  patriotism  by  resigning  the  presidency,  and 


222  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

demand  a  new  election  on  the  basis  of  reconciliation  with 
the  South. 

But  while  to  some  of  these  more  absurd  suggestions 
Lincoln  gave  a  ready  and  decisive  answer,  on  the  whole, 
he  maintained  the  same  sagacious  silence  that  he  had  kept 
while  the  canvass  for  the  presidency  was  going  on.  To 
all  comers  he  said,  in  effect,  that  it  would  be  time  to  indi- 
cate what  his  policy  was  to  be  when  he  had  taken  office 
at  Washington.  He  told  applicants  that  his  past  record, 
his  public  utterances,  and  his  speeches  ought  to  make 
manifest  what  his  course  as  President  would  be.  Beyond 
that,  he  would  say  nothing.  His  inaugural  address  must 
needs  be  the  first  official  declaration  of  his  intentions,  pur- 
poses, wishes,  and  desires. 

Many  of  these  inquisitive  inquirers  were  put  off  with  a 
comical  story  or  a  bit  of  wise  humor ;  and  they  did  not 
like  it  any  better  that  their  rebuff  should  take  this  shape. 
They  went  home  and  sourly  reported  that  the  President- 
elect was  a  buffoon,  a  joker,  a  merry-andrew.  There 
were  not  a  few  who  were  glad  to  hear  any  thing  to  the 
discredit  of  Lincoln,  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  a  grave 
injustice  was  done  him,  long  before  he  took  his  seat  in 
the  presidential  chair.  Perhaps  Lincoln  sometimes  made 
the  mistake  natural  to  men  of  a  natural  and  unaffected 
turn  of  mind,  and  presumed  that  the  good-sense  of  his 
visitors  would  make  allowance  for  an  artful  sportiveness 
and  fancy.  But  many  of  these  went  away  troubled  in 
mind  and  full  of  wrong  notions  of  Lincoln.  Nobody  that 
ever  knew  Lincoln  could  possibly  have  said  of  him  that  he 


LINCOLN  AND  RELIGION.  22$ 

was  a  trifler  or  an  inveterate  joker.  He  was  a  serious  and 
deeply  grave  man,  when  seriousness  and  gravity  were  in 
order ;  and  much  of  his  playfulness  was  assumed  for  a 
purpose,  or  to  lighten  his  load  of  care  and  divert  his  mind 
from  heavy  troubles.  On  the  whole,  those  who  knew  him 
best  unite  in  saying  that  his  disposition  was  a  sad  one  by 
nature. 

How  Lincoln  regarded  religion  and  religious  things  at 
this  time  may  be  best  illustrated  in  a  report  from  Mr. 
Newton  Bateman,  of  Illinois,  regarding  a  conversation  he 
held*with  Lincoln  just  before  the  election  of  November, 
1860.  Mr.  Bateman  was  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools,  and  occupied  an  office  near  the  apartment  sur- 
rendered to  Lincoln  in  the  State-house,  during  the  cam- 
paign. The  Republican  Committee  had  made  a  careful 
canvass  of  the  city  of  Springfield,  showing  how  nearly 
every  man  was  to  vote  at  the  presidential  election.  Lin- 
coln turned  over  the  leaves  of  this  book,  one  day,  while 
Mr.  Bateman  was  in  his  company,  the  two  men  being 
alone  together.  Lincoln  scanned  the  list  of  the  Spring- 
field clergymen,  and,  with  a  sad  face,  said  that  of  the 
twenty,  all  but  three  were  against  him,  and  that  very 
many  of  the  members  of  the  churches  of  these  clergymen 
were  also  arrayed  on  that  side. 

"  I  am  not  a  Christian,"  he  said  ;  "  God  knows  I  would 
be  one.  But  I  have  carefully  read  the  Bible,  and  I  do  not 
so  understand  this  book  "  ;  and  here  he  drew  a  New  Testa- 
ment from  his  bosom.  "  These  men  well  know,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  that  I  am  for  freedom  in  the  Territories,  freedom 


224  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

everywhere  as  far  as  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  will 
permit,  and  that  my  opponents  are  for  slavery.  They 
know  this ;  and  yet,  with  this  book  in  their  hands,  in  the 
light  of  which  human  knowledge  cannot  live  a  moment, 
they  are  going  to  vote  against  me.  I  do  not  understand 
it  at  all." 

Here  his  voice  was  choked  with  emotion,  and  he  rose 
and  walked  about  the  room  until  he  regained  his  self- 
possession.  Then,  with  his  face  wet  with  tears,  he  con- 
tinued :  "  I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  he  hates  injus- 
tice and  slavery-.  I  see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  kno*w  his 
hand  is  in  it.  If  he  has  a  place  and  work  for  me,  and  I 
think  he  has,  I  believe  I  am  ready.  I  am  nothing,  but 
truth  is  every  thing.  I  know  I  am  right,  because  I  know 
that  liberty  is  right,  for  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is 
God.  I  have  told  them  that  a  house  divided  against  itself 
cannot  stand,  and  Christ  and  reason  say  the  same  thing ; 
and  they  will  find  it  so.  Douglas  does  n't  care  whether 
slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down,  but  God  cares,  and 
humanity  cares,  and  I  care  ;  and  with  God's  help  I  shall 
not  fail.  I  may  not  see  the  end,  but  it  will  come  and  I 
shall  be  vindicated  ;  and  these  men  will  find  that  they 
have  not  read  their  Bibles  aright." 

Much  of  this,  and  other  words  to  the  same  import,  was 
said  as  if  Lincoln  was  thinking  aloud,  soliloquizing,  as  was 
sometimes  his  wont.  Then  he  went  on,  saying:  "  Does  n't 
it  appear  strange  that  men  can  ignore  the  moral  as- 
pects of  this  contest  ?  A  revelation  could  not  make  it 
plainer  to  me  that  slavery,  or  this  government,  must  be 


SLAVERY  AND    THE  BIBLE.  22$ 

destroyed.  The  future  would  be  something  awful,  as  I 
look  at  it,  but  for  this  Rock  on  which  I  stand,"  alluding 
to  the  Testament  which  he  held  in  his  hand  ;  "  especially 
with  the  knowledge  of  how  these  ministers  are  going  to 
vote.  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with  this  thing 
(slavery)  until  the  very  teachers  of  religion  had  come  to 
defend  it  from  the  Bible,  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  char- 
acter and  sanction  ;  and  now  the  cup  of  iniquity  is  full, 
and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured  out." 

These  words,  like  many  others  of  Lincoln's,  uttered  be- 
fore he  was  chosen  to  the  presidency — even  before  he 
was  nominated,  as  some  of  them  were, — indicate  almost  a 
certain  knowledge  of  coming  events  which  is  very  like 
prophecy.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Lincoln  saw  long  before 
anybody  else  did  that  he  would  be  the  nominee  of  his 
party  in  1860,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  saw  that  his  elec- 
tion was  assured  as  soon  as  the  nominations  were  all  made. 
There  is  something  awful  in  his  standing  here  at  the 
parting  of  the  ways,  his  private  life  on  the  one  hand  and 
his  public  life  on  the  other,  and  solemnly  predicting,  as  it 
were,  the  day  of  wrath  that  was  coming  upon  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  Not  in  the  South  alone,  but  even 
in  New  England,  were  found  clergymen  who  taught  and 
preached  that  slavery  was  right  and  just,  of  divine  origin, 
and  that  men  who  raised  their  hands  against  it  were  guilty 
of  a  species  of  high  treason.  Lincoln  had  looked  into  the 
heart  of  things  ;  and,  like  Thomas  Jefferson,  regarding 
this  great  wrong  against  humanity,  he  trembled  for  his 
country  when  he  remembered  that  God  is  just. 


226  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Threats  of  leaving  the  Union  came  loud  and  vociferous 
from  the  slave  States  as  soon  as  Lincoln's  election  was 
assured  and  the  returns  were  all  in.  It  is  more  than  likely 
that  these  threats  were  only  in  consequence  of  a  long-laid 
plan  to  leave  the  Union  on  the  very  first  offering  of  an 
excuse.  The  South  could  not  live  amicably  alongside  of 
free  territory.  Lincoln  spoke  only  the  absolute  truth 
when  he  said  that  the  government  could  exist  no  longer, 
half  slave  and  half  free.  Now  that  the  triumph  of  what 
they  called  a  sectional  party  had  given  them  an  excuse, 
they  were  ready  to  go  ;  but  they  must  needs  make  a  great 
deal  of  bluster  about  it.  They  went  out  with  a  grand  dis- 
play of  resolutions  and  fiery  speeches. 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  allies  of  treason  and  rebellion 
in  thejCabinet  were  doing  what  they  could  to  make  things 
easier  for  the  rebel  States  when  the  final  blow  should 
come.  John  B.  Floyd,  a  Southern  man,  was  Secretary  of 
War,  and  he  scattered  the  army  all  over  the  South,  one  of 
its  largest  sections  being  sent  as  far  away  as  possible  in 
the  interior  of  Texas,  so  that  it  should  not  be  at  hand 
when  the  new  President  should  come  to  the  national  capi- 
tal. Floyd  also  moved  large  quantities  of  arms  and  muni- 
tions of  war  from  the  forts  and  arsenals  in  the  North  to 
those  in  the  South.  Mr.  Isaac  Toucey,  a  Northern  man, 
but  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  conspirators,  sent  the 
little  navy  of  the  United  States  to  the  four  quarters  of 
the  globe,  so  that  no  naval  force  should  be  available  when 
the  conspiracy  should  be  ripe.  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia, 
afterwards  a  general  in  the  rebel  army,  was  then  Secretary 


TREASON  IN    THE   CABINET.  22*] 

of  the  Treasury,  and  after  he  had  purposely  involved  the 
national  finances  in  difficulty,  he  resigned.  He  left  the 
Treasury  empty.  Attorney-General  Black  had  given  his 
official  opinion  that  neither  Congress  nor  the  President 
could  carry  on  any  war  against  any  State.  James  Bu- 
chanan, a  weak  old  man,  was  nominally  President,  but  the 
conspirators  in  the  Cabinet  carried  forward  their  plans 
with  a  high  hand.  Every  thing  that  happened  in  govern- 
mental circles  in  Washington  was  immediately  known  in 
the  councils  of  the  secessionists,  South  Carolina  being  the 
hotbed  of  treason.  The  Southern  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives, almost  without  exception,  remained  in  Wash- 
ington, occupying  their  desks  in  the  Senate  and  House, 
drawing  pay  and  official  perquisites  up  to  the  last  mo- 
ment ;  and,  holding  possession  of  the  government  as 
these  men  did,  they  were  at  the  same  time  plotting  to 
overthrow  it. 

Some  of  the  Northern  Democrats  who  had  stood  by 
Buchanan  and  his  party  until  now,  began  to  murmur 
at  his  supple  willingness  to  help  the  cause  of  the  rebellion, 
now  assuming  formidable  proportions.  Lewis  Cass,  Sec- 
retary of  State,  resigned  because  the  President  refused  to 
send  reinforcements  to  Major  Anderson,  who  was  shut  up 
with  a  little  force  in  Fort  Moultrie,  Charleston  harbor. 
This  is  the  same  Anderso'n,  then  a  lieutenant,  who  mus- 
tered Abraham  Lincoln  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  during  the  Black  Hawk  war.  As 
soon  as  South  Carolina  should  secede  from  the  Union, 
Fort  Moultrie  and  other  fortifications  in  Charleston  har- 


228  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN, 

bor  were  certain  to  be  seized.  Mr.  Black,  too,  resigned, 
and  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  a  staunch  Democrat  and  Unionist, 
was  appointed  in  his  place.  General  John  A.  Dix,  of  New 
York,  succeeded  Howell  Cobb  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury. It  was  this  unflinching  Union  man,  General  Dix, 
who,  while  in  the  Cabinet  of  Buchanan,  sent  to  the 
commander  of  a  threatened  revenue  cutter  the  famous 
despatch  :  "  If  any  man  attempts  to  haul  down  the  Ameri- 
can flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot ! "  Joseph  Holt,  of  Ken- 
tucky, also  a  strong  Union  man,  took  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  War,  made  vacant  by  Floyd,  who  had  added 
official  dishonesty  to  treason. 

Stanton,  in  the  Attorney-General's  office,  was  a  very 
different  sort  of  man  from  Black,  who  had  retired  to  Penn- 
sylvania. The  infamous  Jacob  Thompson,  who  kept  his 
office  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior  for  the  purpose,  appar- 
ently, of  helping  his  fellow-conspirators  in  the  slave  States, 
advised  a  surrender  of  the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor  and 
the  withdrawal  of  Major  Anderson  and  his  little  force. 
Stanton  said  to  the  President :  "  Mr.  President,  it  is  my 
duty,  as  your  legal  adviser,  to  say  that  you  have  no  right  to 
give  up  the  property  of  the  government, or  abandon  the  sol- 
diers of  the  United  States  to  its  enemies  ;  and  the  course 
proposed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  if  followed, 
is  treason,  and  will  involve  you,  and  all  concerned,  in 
treason." 

For  the  first  time,  treason  had  been  called  by  its  right 
name  in  the  Cabinet  councils  of  James  Buchanan.  It  was 
none  too  soon.  The  traitors  now  saw  that  their  work  in 


ORDINANCE   OF  SECESSION  ADOPTED.  22Q 

Washington  must  close  ;  the  times  were  ripe  for  open 
revolt  ;  and  while  some  waited  until  the  open  secession 
of  their  States  called  them  home,  others  hastened  South- 
wards, eagerly  taking  part  in  what  they  fondly  deemed 
to  be  the  formation  of  a  new  and  prosperous  confederacy. 
According  to  the  programme  of  the  secessionists,  South 
Carolina  led  off  in  the  formal  proceedings  of  leave-taking. 
That  State  had  long  been  the  home  of  disunion,  and 
there  was  a  certain  propriety  in  conceding  to  it  the  lead- 
ership of  the  new  movement.  The  ordinance  of  secession 
was  adopted  by  South  Carolina  November  17,  1860. 
Mississippi  followed  January  9,  1861  ;  Florida,  January 
lOth  ;  Alabama,  January  nth;  Georgia,  January  I9th  ; 
Louisiana,  January  25th  ;  and  Texas,  February  ist.  So 
that  by  the  time  Lincoln  was  ready  to  go  to  Washington 
to  take  the  oath  of  office,  seven  States  had  declared 
themselves  out  of  the  Union.  They  did  not  at  once  form 
a  separate  confederacy,  but  each  State  declared  itself 
independent  of  the  union  of  the  States  to  which  each  had 
belonged.  Thus  in  South  Carolina,  after  the  ordinance 
of  secession  had  been  passed,  declaring  that  the  union 
then  subsisting  between  South  Carolina  and  other  States 
under  the  name  of  the  United  States  of  America  was 
dissolved,  Pickens,  Governor  of  the  State,  issued  a  proc- 
lamation declaring  South  Carolina  to  be  "  a  free,  sovereign, 
and  independent  State."  This  action  filled  the  city  of 
Charleston,  the  head-quarters  of  rebellion,  with  delirious 
joy  and  every  manifestation  of  delight.  Popular  gather- 
ings of  every  description  and  private  festivities  celebrated 


230  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

the  event  to  which  the  people  of  that  devoted  city  had 
so  long  looked  forward  with  eager  expectation.  Hatred 
for  the  union  of  the  States  was  evinced  in  every  possible 
way,  the  American  flag  being  covered  with  indignity  of 
the  most  childish  description.  At  one  of  the  secession 
balls  the  dancers  went  through  the  idle  ceremony  of 
dancing  on  the  flag  spread  out  on  the  floor  of  the  room. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1861,  representatives  of  the 
seceding  States  assembled  in  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
formed  a  confederacy  of  States,  and  elected  Jefferson 
Davis,  of  Mississippi,  provisional  president,  and  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  vice-president.  This  is  the 
same  Davis  who  was  engaged  in  the  Black  Hawk  war 
when  Lincoln  was,  being  then  an  officer  of  the  United 
States  army.  He  had  been  educated  at  the  West  Point 
Military  Academy  at  the  expense  of  the  republic.  The 
machinery  of  the  new  confederacy  was  now  set  up,  and, 
by  appointing  secretaries  for  the  different  executive  de- 
partments of  the  government,  Davis  took  the  first  step  in 
the  direction  of  putting  that  machinery  in  action. 

Lincoln,  at  Springfield,  lingering  in  his  home  until  such 
time  as  was  necessary  for  him  to  depart  for  Washington, 
beheld  all  these  revolutionary  proceedings  with  profound 
anxiety.  He  was  powerless  to  lift  a  hand  against  the 
traitors  who  were  seeking  the  destruction  of  the  Federal 
Union,  for,  although  he  had  been  called  to  be  President 
of  the  United  States,  he  was  as  yet  a  private  citizen. 
And  while  the  loyal  people  of  the  republic  longed  and 
prayed  for  a  strong  man  at  the  helm  of  the  national  gov- 


THREATS  OF   VIOLENCE.  23! 

ernment,  and  waited  for  the  fourth  of  March  to  come 
and  see  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  chair  of  state,  he  remained 
passive,  counselling  patience  and  moderation  to  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  framing  in  his  mind  the 
pleading,  expostulating,  and  generous  inaugural  address 
that  he  subsequently  delivered.  Jefferson  Davis,  on  the 
other  hand,  gave  voice  to  the  hatred  and  vindictiveness 
of  the  slavery  leaders,  when,  on  his  way  from  his  home 
to  be  inaugurated  in  Montgomery,  he  said  :  "  We  will 
carry  the  war  where  it  is  easy  to  advance,  where  food 
for  the  sword  and  the  torch  awaits  our  armies  in  the 
densely  populated  cities."  On  the  one  side  were  forbear- 
ance, magnanimity,  and  Christian  patience.  On  the  other 
side  were  hatred,  vaporing,  and  threats  of  violence. 

But  it  should  not  be  hastily  assumed  that  all  the  South- 
ern men  of  prominence  were  in  this  frame  of  mind.  There 
were  among  them  not  a  few  who  regarded  these  delirious 
performances  with  inexpressible  sadness,  and  who  looked 
on  the  acts  of  secession  as  supreme  folly.  Thus  Alexan- 
der H.  Stephens,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Southern  lead- 
ers, endeavored  to  dissuade  the  convention  of  his  State 
from  passing  the  ordinance  of  secession.  He  knew  Lin- 
coln well ;  and  he  knew  his  generosity,  his  justness,  and  his 
ardent  patriotism.  Speaking  to  the  convention,  Stephens 
said  :  '  Pause,  I  entreat  you,  and  consider  for  a  moment 
what  reasons  you  can  give  that  will  even  satisfy  you  in 
your  calmer  moments — what  reasons  you  can  give  toyour 
fellow-sufferers  in  the  calamity  that  it  will  bring  upon  us. 
What  reasons  can  you  give  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  to 


232  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

justify  it  ?  "  And,  speaking  of  the  slave  property,  to  pre- 
serve which  the  South  proposed  to  invite  war,  he  said  that 
they  might  lose  all,  and  have  their  last  slave  wrenched  from 
them  by  stern  military  rule,  "  or  by  the  vindictive  decree 
of  a  universal  emancipation,  which  may  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  follow." 

Lincoln  had,  from  the  first,  believed  that  the  govern- 
ment could  not  exist,  half  slave  and  half  free.  By  the 
act  of  rebellion  against  the  Union,  the  Southern  States 
were  inviting  war  ;  and  war,  as  their  future  vice-president 
now  told  them,  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  bring 
universal  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  Stephens  put  into 
the  form  of  words  what  Lincoln  had  seen  from  afar  was 
possible.  Lincoln  knew  that  in  the  shock  of  war,  slavery 
must  go  down  ;  but  he  resolutely  set  his  face  against  doing 
any  thing  that  should  hasten  the  day  of  emancipation  ex- 
cept by  such  means  as  he  believed  to  be  constitutional 
and  lawful.  He  determined  to  preserve,  if  possible,  the 
Union.  Slavery  must  take  care  of  itself ;  he  would  not 
touch  it.  The  South  rushed  upon  its  doom. 

Meanwhile,  sundry  well-intentioned  men  were  doing 
what  they  thought  best  to  counteract  the  wave  of  hostility 
that  had  begun  to  rise  in  the  North.  A  steamer  chartered 
to  take  provisions  and  supplies  of  provisions  to  the  United 
States  troops  shut  up  in  Charleston  harbor  had  been  fired 
on  from  the  rebel  works  on  the  shore,  and  the  attitude  of 
the  South  was  gradually  growing  more  and  more  warlike. 
This  kindled  indignation  and  bitterness  in  the  Northern 
States.  A  Peace  Congress  assembled  in  Washington  to 


DESIRE  FOR  PEACE.  233 

concert  measures  for  the  averting  of  war.  Union  meet- 
ings were  held  in  New  York  and  other  large  cities  in  the 
free  States,  everybody  being  desirous,  apparently,  of  do- 
ing whatever  could  reasonably  be  done  to  pacify  the 
South,  angry  at  the  election  of  a  "  sectional  "  candidate. 
The  Southerners  forgot  that  they  had  made  freedom 
sectional. 

It  should  be  said,  also,  that  in  communities  where  the 
trade  and  commerce  of  the  Southern  people  had  been 
large,  there  was  something  like  a  panic  at  the  near  pros- 
pect of  a  war  with  the  slave  States.  Cotton,  that  great 
staple  of  the  Gulf  States,  was  one  of  the  great  needs  of 
the  manufacturing  States  of  the  North.  The  Southern 
States  did  not  manufacture  many  goods,  and  their  de- 
pendence on  the  North  was  also  one  reason  why  these 
latter  should  not  go  to  war.  They  would  lose  their  profit- 
able customers.  Thus  the  desire  in  the  North  for  peace 
was  natural  and  strong. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FROM   SPRINGFIELD   TO   WASHINGTON. 

Lincoln's  Farewell  to  His  Fellow-Townsmen — Prayers  for  the  President- 
Elect — Rush  of  the  People  to  See  Him — A  Series  of  Remarkable 
Speeches — Why  the  President  Would  Wear  a  Beard — Rumors  of  As- 
sassination— The  Night  Journey  from  Harrisburg  to  the  Capital. 

ON  the  I  ith  of  February,  1861,  Lincoln,  accompanied 
by  his  family  and  a  few  personal  friends,  left  his 
modest  and  happy  home  in  Springfield  for  the  national 
capital.  No  man  can  know  what  sad  forebodings,  what 
thoughts  of  possible  disaster  to  him,  to  his  country, 
and  to  his  beloved  family  may  have  oppressed  his  mind, 
as  he  looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  familiar  sce'nes  of  his 
Illinois  home.  Already,  threats  of  assassination  had  been 
whispered  abroad,  and  it  had  been  boasted  by  the  enemies 
of  the  Union  that  Lincoln  would  never  reach  Washington 
alive.  And,  in  any  case,  the  certain  approach  of  war  was 
now  a  matter  weighing  on  every  heart,  and  the  man  who 
was  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  under  God,  was 
bowed  down  with  this  great  anxiety  as  he  bade  farewell 
to  his  fellow-townsmen.  As  if  conscious  that  this  was  in- 
deed a  last  parting,  his  voice  trembled  and  his  eyes  were 
suffused  with  moisture  as  he  spoke  from  the  platform  of 

234 


LINCOLN'S  FAREWELL    TO   SPRINGFIELD.         235 

the  railway  train  these  beautiful  words,  breathing  a  spirit 
of  Christian  trust  and  manly  affection  for  his  friends  and 
neighbors  : 

"  My  friends,  no  one,  not  in  my  situation,  can  appreciate 
my  feeling  of  sadness  at  this  parting.  To  this  place,  and  the 
kindness  of  these  people,  I  owe  every  thing.  Here  I  have 
lived  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  have  passed  from. a  young  to 
an  old  man.  Here  my  children  have  been  born,  and  one  is 
buried.  I  now  leave,  not  knowing  when  or  whether  ever  I 
may  return,  with  a  task  before  me  greater  than  that  which 
rested  upon  Washington.  Without  the  assistance  of  that  Di- 
vine Being  who  ever  attended  him,  I  cannot  succeed.  With 
that  assistance,  I  cannot  fail.  Trusting  in  Him,  who  can  go 
with  me,  and  remain  with  you,  and  be  everywhere  for  good, 
let  us  confidently  hope  that  all  will  yet  be  well.  To  His  care 
commending  you,  as  I  hope -in  your  prayers  you  will  commend 
me,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

It  is  good  to  remember  that  this  last  request  of  Lincoln 
of  his  neighbors  and  townsmen  was  heeded.  From  that 
day  to  the  dark  hour  when  his  earthly  remains  were 
brought  back  to  be  laid  in  the  earth,  from  innumerable 
homes  went  up  the  daily  prayer  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States  in  his  sore  need.  And  not  only  from  the 
people  of  Illinois,  who  loved  this  man  so  well,  but  from 
every  nook  and  corner  of  the  land  of  liberty  and  freedom, 
were  the  petitions  of  faithful  Christian  men  and  women 
offered  continually  for  him,  for  his  counsellors,  and  all 
others  in  authority. 

Passing  from  Illinois  on  his  way  to  the  national  capital, 
Lincoln  traversed  the  States  of  Indiana,  Ohio,  New  York, 


236  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland.  Enthusiasm 
and  curiosity  combined  to  draw  prodigious  crowds  to  the 
stations  through  which  Lincoln's  train  passed,  or  stopped. 
The  outpouring  of  the  people  was  something  unprece- 
dented. The  crowds  continually  called  for  a  speech. 
They  could  not  understand  why  Lincoln,  the  master 
orator  of  the  West,  should  not  make  haste  to  reply  to 
their  demand  for  a  speech.  He  was  reluctant  to  break  his 
rule  not  to  outline  any  part  of  his  future  policy.  But  the 
burning  questions  of  the  hour  would  not  be  evaded  ;  and, 
if  he  spoke  at  all,  he  must  needs  touch  on  some  of  these. 
At  Indianapolis,  where  he  was  greeted  with  great  acclama- 
tion, and  was  escorted  to  his  hotel  by  a  procession  of  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  he  broke  his 
rule,  and  said  a  few  words  about  "  invasion  "  and  "  coer- 
cion." At  that  time  these  phrases  were  on  every  man's 
lips.  The  South  and  its  friends  in  the  North  were  very 
much  exercised  at  the  suggestion  that  the  North,  that  is 
to  say,  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  would 
"  invade  "  the  States  that  had  seceded,  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  the  authority  of  the  United  States.  It  had 
been  expressly  declared  by  those  who  were  President 
Buchanan's  legal  advisers,  that  it  was  neither  lawful,  nor 
constitutional,  nor  possible,  for  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  "  coerce  "  any  State  that  chose  to  leave 
the  Union.  The  professed  friends  of  peace  and  union 
rang  the  changes  on  these  two  words.  Coercion,  they 
said,  was  wrong,  and  the  invasion  of  a  State  was  uncon- 
stitutional and  wicked,  even  treasonable.  Lincoln  said  : 


THRONGS  PRESS    TO   SEE  HIM. 

"  What,  then,  is  '  coercion  '  ?  What  is  '  invasion  '  ?  Would 
the  marching  of  an  army  into  South  Carolina,  without  the  con- 
sent of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  intent  toward  them,  be 
invasion  ?  I  certainly  think  it  would,  and  it  would  be  coercion 
also  if  the  South  Carolinians  were  forced  to  submit.  But  if 
the  United  States  should  merely  hold  and  retake  its  own  forts 
and  other  property,  and  collect  the  duties  on  foreign  importa- 
tions, or  even  withhold  the  mails  from  places  where  they  were 
habitually  violated,  would  any  or  all  of  these  things  be  invasion 
or  coercion  ?  .  .  .  Upon  what  principle,  what  rightful 
principle  may  a  State,  being  no  more  than  one-fiftieth  part  of 
the  nation  in  soil  and  population,  break  up  the  nation,  and 
then  coerce  a  proportionably  larger  subdivision  of  itself  in  the 
same  way  ?  " 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Lincoln  asserted  nothing.  He 
asked  these  questions  and  left  them  for  the  people  to 
think  about.  This  was  one  of  his  favorite  methods  of 
putting  a  case.  He  made  no  arrogant  assertions,  no 
"  thus-saith-the-Lord  "  declarations.  He  preferred,  when- 
ever that  was  possible,  to  leave  the  case  with  the  people 
to  decide  for  themselves,  having  first  cleared  the  ground 
by  asking  a  few  weighty  questions.  At  other  points, 
Lincoln  was  called  upon  to  address  the  throngs  that 
pressed  to  see  him,  to  hear  his  voice.  It  was  contrary  to 
his  nature  to  disappoint  them  ;  and,  although  he  made 
no  more  remarks  like  those  at  Indianapolis  to  indicate 
what  his  public  policy  might  be,  he  responded  whenever 
the  time  allowed  him.  Thus  at  Lawrenceburgh,  Indiana, 
he  said,  in  the  course  of  a  very  brief  speech  :  "  Let  me 
tell  you  that  if  the  people  remain  right,  your  public  men 
can  never  betray  you.  If,  in  my  brief  term  of  office,  I 


238  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

shall  be  wicked  or  foolish,  if  you  remain  right  and  true 
and  honest,  you  cannot  be  betrayed.  My  power  is  tem- 
porary and  fleeting  ;  yours  as  eternal  as  the  principles  of 
liberty." 

At  Cincinnati,  the  great  city  of  Ohio,  the  populace 
went  wild  with  enthusiasm.  Nothing  like  it  had  ever 
before  been  seen  in  the  beautiful  and  easily-moved  "  Queen 
City  of  the  West,"  as  its  people  are  proud  to  call  their 
home.  Lincoln  was  almost  bodily  carried  to  his  hotel,  so 
vast  was  the  pressure  of  the  wave  of  people  that  surged 
in  volumes  through  the  gayly  decorated  streets.  At  night 
the  buildings  were  illuminated,  and  the  city  wore  a  festal 
appearance  while  the  party  tarried.  Lincoln  made  a 
little  speech,  full  of  good  feeling ;  and,  as  he  was  now  on 
the  borders  of  Kentucky,  a  slave  State,  in  which  were  not 
a  few  who  longed  to  take  the  State  out  of  the  Union,  he 
addressed  himself  to  Kentuckians,  his  old-time  friends, 
with  peculiar  warmth  and  tenderness.  Referring  to  the 
words  that  he  had  used  when  speaking  to  the  South, 
aforetime,  he  said  :  "  Fellow-citizens  of  Kentucky.  May 
I  call  you  such  ?  In  my  new  position  I  see  no  occasion, 
and  I  feel  no  inclination,  to  retract  a  word  of  this.  If 
it  shall  not  be  made  good,  be  assured  that  the  fault  will 
not  be  mine."  In  this  way,  making  an  enthusiastic 
progress,  but  constantly  pleading  for  peace,  good-will, 
forbearance,  and  patriotic  concessions  to  the  righteousness 
of  the  cause  of  liberty,  Lincoln  approached  the  scene  of 
his  future  labors. 

At   every  point  where  he  could  be  induced  to  stop, 


"  SA  VE    THE   GOOD   OLD   SHIP''  239 

even  for  an  hour  or  two,  the  greetings  of  affection  and 
respect  were  unmistakable,  and  it  is  likely  that  Lincoln 
was  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  show  himself  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  to  speak  reassuring  words.  It  is  more  than  likely 
that,  averse  as  he  was  to  display,  he  would  have  hurried 
on  to  Washington,  but  for  the  fact,  more  clear  in  his  mind 
than  in  minds  of  others,  that  this  was  his  last  opportunity 
to  say  a  few  words  to  "  the  plain  people,"  on  whom  he  re- 
lied so  thoroughly,  and  in  whose  patriotism  he  confided 
so  much.  Thus  at  Pittsburg  he  said  he  was  gratified 
deeply  by  the  information  that  the  magnificent  reception 
tendered  him  was  by  citizens  generally,  without  distinction 
of  party.  And  he  added  :  "  If  we  don't  all  join  now  to 
save  the  good  old  ship  of  the  Union,  this  voyage,  nobody 
will  have  a  chance  to  pilot  her  on  another  voyage."  It  is 
very  likely,  by  the  way,  that  Lincoln  had  in  his  mind  at 
that  time  the  stanza  of  Longfellow's  "  Building  of  the 
Ship,"  which,  later  in  the  course  of  his  life,  he  was  fond 
of  reciting : 

"  Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State  ! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great  ! 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate  !  " 

An  entertaining  incident  occurred  at  North  East  station, 
a  minor  point  between  Erie,  Pa.,  and  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Up  to  the  time  of.  his  nomination  for  the  presidency, 
Lincoln's  face  was  clean-shaven.  As  his  neck  was  long 
and  his  cheeks  rather  hollow  and  dusky,  it  must  be  admit- 


24O  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ted  that  the  advice  given  him  by  an  unknown  admirer, 
during  the  campaign,  was  very  good.  A  young  girl, 
writing  from  this  same  North  East  station,  counselled  him, 
in  a  simple  little  letter,  that  if  he  would  let  his  whiskers 
grow,  he  would  look  very  much  better.  Lincoln  followed 
her  advice,  after  consulting  his  wife  ;  and  bearing  in  mind 
the  name  of  the  place  whence  the  writer  had  advised 
him,  he  now  asked  that  a  little  stop  might  be  made  there. 
In  response  to  the  tumultuous  greeting  of  the  assembled 
crowds,  he  said,  after  a  few  words,  that  he  had  received  a 
letter  from  a  fair  young  townswoman  of  theirs,  who, 
among  other  things,  had  admonished  him  to  raise  whis- 
kers, and  that  he  had,  as  they  would  see,  followed  her 
counsel.  If  she  were  in  the  assemblage  before  him,  he 
would  be  glad  to  welcome  her.  In  answer  to  this  unex- 
pected request,  a  blushing  little  damsel  made  her  way  to 
the  President,  was  assisted  to  the  platform  of  the  railway- 
car,  and  kissed  by  the  President-elect,  to  the  great  delight 
of  the  crowd,  who  cheered  heartily  as  Lincoln  and  his 
young  correspondent  met  for  the  first  and  last  time. 

At  Albany,  the  capital  of  the  great  State  of  New  York, 
he  was  met  by  the  usual  vast  crowds,  and  he  had  accepted 
the  invitation  of  the  State,  tendered  him  by  the  Governor, 
Hon.  E.  D.  Morgan,  afterwards  known  as  the  redoubtable, 
generous,  and  patriotic  "  War  Governor  "  of  the  Empire 
State.  Lincoln's  speech  at  this  point,  delivered  in  the 
State-house,  was  characterized  by  a  beautiful  simplicity 
and  diffidence.  He  said  that  he  was  awed  by  the  influ- 
ences of  the  place  in  which  he  spoke,  associated  as  it  was 


RECEPTION  AT  NEW    YORK.  24! 

in  his  mind  with  some  of  the  great  men  of  the  nation,  and 
he  was  disposed  to  shrink  from  addressing  the  audience. 
Then  he  added  :  "  It  is  true  that,  while  I  hold  myself, 
without  mock-modesty,  the  humblest  of  all  the  individuals 
who  have  ever  been  elected  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  I  yet  have  a  more  difficult  task  to  perform  than 
any  one  of  them  has  encountered."  Then,  alluding  to  the 
prevailing  anxiety  to  hear  some  exposition  of  his  future 
policy,  he  said  :  "  I  deem  it  just  to  the  country,  to  myself, 
to  you,  that  I  should  see  every  thing,  hear  every  thing,  and 
have  every  light  that  can  possibly  be  brought  within  my 
reach,  to  aid  me  before  I  shall  speak  officially,  in  order 
that,  when  I  do  speak,  I  may  have  the  best  means  of 
taking  true  and  correct  grounds."  This  was  always,  to 
the  last  of  his  life,  Lincoln's  way.  He  would  do  nothing 
in  a  hurry. 

He  was  given,  as  might  be  expected,  a  wonderfully  fine 
reception  in  the  great  metropolis  of  New  York.  Under 
very  different  circumstances  from  those  of  his  last  visit 
did  he  now  return  to  the  chief  city  of  the  republic. 
Then  he  was  comparatively  a  stranger;  his  address  at 
Cooper  Union  had  been  his  first  introduction  to  the 
people  of  the  Eastern  States.  Now  he  came  as  the  elected 
choice  of  the  nation,  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic. 
At  that  time,  Fernando  Wood,  who  was  for  a  time  in 
favor  of  making  New  York  a  free  and  independent  city  of 
the  republic,  like  Antwerp  and  others,  was  mayor,  and  in 
his  official  capacity  he  received  the  President-elect.  Mr. 
Wood  dwelt  with  some  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  New 


242  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

York  was  the  chief  port,  as  well  as  the  chief  city,  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  it  was  greatly  concerned  that 
there  should  be  peace  always ;  he  said  that  war  would  be 
destructive  of  its  highest  interests.  In  his  response,  Lin- 
coln said,  with  his  usual  shrewdness  and  wisdom,  after 
renewing  his  expressions  of  devotion  to  the  Union,  that 
the  whole  country,  as  well  as  the  great  city  of  New  York, 
was  concerned  in  the  preservation  of  that  Union  under 
which  all  the  States  had  acquired  their  due  measure  of 
greatness.  And  he  added  : 

"  I  understand  the  ship  to  be  made  for  the  carrying  and 
the  preservation  of  the  cargo,  and  so  long  as  the  ship  can  be 
saved  with  the  cargo,  it  should  never  be  abandoned,  unless 
there  appears  to  be  no  possibility  of  its  preservation,  and  it 
must  cease  to  exist,  except  at  the  risk  of  throwing  overboard 
both  freight  and  passengers.  So  long,  then,  as  it  is  possible 
that  the  prosperity  and  the  liberties  of  the  people  be  preserved 
in  this  Union,  it  shall  be  my  purpose  at  all  times  to  use  all  my 
powers  to  aid  in  its  perpetuation." 

Earlier  in  this  story,  we  have  seen  how  Lincoln  dwelt 
on  his  study  of  the  character  of  Washington,  as  it  was 
drawn  in  the  first  book  which,  as  the  poor  boy  of  the  back- 
woods, was  his  first  literary  possession — Weems*  "  Life 
of  Washington."  At  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  where  he  was 
in  sight  of  some  of  the  most  famous  battle-fields  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  Lincoln  recalled  to  the  minds  of  the 
people  before  him  the  fact  that  very  few  of  the  States 
among  the  old  thirteen  original  States  had  more  battle- 
fields within  their  limits  than  New  Jersey.  And  he  added  : 

"  May  I  be  pardoned  if,  upon  this  occasion,  I  mention  that, 


ADDRESS  AT   TRENTON.  243 

away  back  in  my  childhood,  the  earliest  days  of  my  being  able 
to  read,  I  got  hold  of  a  small  book,  such  a  one  as  few  of  these 
younger  members  have  ever  seen,  Weems'  'Life  of  Washington.' 
I  remember  all  the  accounts  there  given  of  the  battle-fields 
and  struggles  for  the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none  fixed 
themselves  upon  my  imagination  so  deeply  as  the  struggle 
here  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  The  crossing  of  the  river,  the 
contest  with  the  Hessians,  the  great  hardships  endured  at  that 
time, — all  fixed  themselves  on  my  memory  more  than  any 
single  revolutionary  event ;  and  you  know,  for  you  have  all 
been  boys,  how  these  early  impressions  last  longer  than  any 
others.  I  recollect  thinking  then,  boy  even  though  I  was,  that 
there  must  have  been  more  than  common  that  those  men 
struggled  for.  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  that  that  thing  they 
struggled  for,  that  something  even  more  than  national  indepen- 
dence, that  something  that  held  out  a  great  promise  to  all  the 
people  of  the  world  to  all  time  to  come — I  am  exceedingly 
anxious  that  this  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  shall  be  perpetuated  in  accordance  with  the  origi- 
nal idea  for  which  the  struggle  was  made  ;  and  I  shall  be  most 
happy  indeed,  if  I  shall  be  an  humble  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  the  Almighty,  and  of  this,  His  almost  chosen  people,  for  per- 
petuating the  object  of  that  great  struggle." 

The  poor  boy,  grown  to  man's  estate,  undoubtedly  re- 
called to  mind,  as  he  spoke  to  the  Legislature  and  the 
people  of  New  Jersey,  some  of  the  trials  and  boyish  griefs 
of  the  time  when,  with  the  rain-stained  book  of  Weems  in 
his  hand,  he  went  sorrowfully  to  ask  its  surly  owner  what 
was  to  be  done  to  meet  this  irreparable  disaster  ;  and  Lin- 
coln, President-elect,  had  carried  all  through  life  what  was 
better  than  the  lesson  of  that  dark,  childish  trouble — the 
lesson  of  the  lives  of  the  patriot  fathers  of  the  republic. 

There  had  been  vague  rumors  and  suspicions  afloat  con- 


244  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

earning  a  conspiracy  to  assassinate  the  President-elect, 
while  he  should  be  on  his  way  to  Washington.  Lincoln 
himself  paid  very  little  heed  to  these  rumors.  It  was  al- 
ways difficult  for  him  to  place  upon  his  own  person  the 
value  and  importance  of  the  office  he  held.  Even  later, 
when  he  had  been  in  his  exalted  position  for  years,  he 
seemed  incapable  of  realizing  that  he  was,  in  his  own 
proper  person,  a  man  of  great  importance  to  the  people. 
But,  as  the  party  drew  near  the  seat  of  government, 
which  was,  almost  in  point  of  fact,  within  the  rebel  lines, 
with  the  rebellious  State  of  Virginia  on  the  south  and  the 
turbulent  and  disloyal  State  of  Maryland  on  the  north,  the 
whispers  of  conspiracy  and  plot  became  more  and  more 
articulate.  The  nest  of  the  conspiracy  seemed  to  be  in 
Baltimore,  and  all  indications  pointed  directly  to  that  city 
of  slave-holders  and  undisguised  sympathizers  with  rebel- 
lion. The  Union  element  in  Baltimore,  which  asserted 
itself  afterwards,  was  cowed  and  silenced  by  the  more 
noisy  and  riotous  portion  of  the  population.  To  all  in- 
tents, the  city  was  a  hot-bed  of  rebellion. 

Personal  friends  employed  detectives  to  follow  up  the 
slight  clues  which  were  given  them,  and  it  was  absolutely 
settled  that  there  was  a  plot  to  assassinate  Lincoln  as  he 
passed  through  Baltimore.  This  information,  with  evi- 
dence establishing  it  beyond  a  doubt,  was  laid  before  Lin- 
coln on  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia.  At  the  same  time, 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  then  commanding  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  and  residing  in  Washington,  was  by  his 
secret  agents  apprised  of  the  existence  of  the  plot  afore- 


ADDRESS  AT  PHILADELPHIA.  245 

mentioned.  Here  were  two  independent  sources  of  infor- 
mation, and,  in  conjunction  with  Senator  Seward,  of  New 
York,  a  trusty  messenger,  Mr.  Frederick  W.  Seward,  was 
sent  to  Philadelphia,  by  Gen.  Scott  and  Mr.  Seward,  to 
warn  Lincoln,  and  to  urge  him  to  take  every  precaution 
•to  avoid  danger  on  his  way  to  Washington.  Lincoln  was 
very  much  disturbed  by  these  two  confirmatory  reports. 
He  was  still  unwilling  to  believe  that  any  attempt  would 
be  made  to  waylay  and  murder  him  ;  and  he  could  not 
persuade  himself  that  any  one  so  base  and  wicked  as  to 
take  his  life  causelessly  could  be  found.  He  had  agreed 
to  meet  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  at  Independence 
Hall,  where  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  written 
and  signed,  and  to  raise  a  flag  over  that  historic  building 
on  Washington's  birthday,  February  22d.  He  had  also 
accepted  an  invitation  to  meet  the  Legislature  of  Penn- 
sylvania, at  Harrisburg,  the  State  capital,  on  the  afternoon 
of  that  day.  To  all  expostulations  and  advice,  the  Presi- 
dent-elect said  :  "  Both  of  these  appointments  I  shall 
keep,  if  it  costs  me  my  life."  The  flag-raising  took  place 
as  previously  arranged.  Lincoln  was  formally  presented 
to  a  great  company  of  people,  gathered  from  far  and  wide, 
— among  them  doubtless  being  some  of  the  men  who  were 
concerned  in  the  assassination  plot.  With  cheerfulness 
and  dignity,  Lincoln  made  an  admirable  address.  Stand- 
ing in  the  room  where  the  immortal  Declaration  was 
signed,  weighed  down  with  contending  emotions,  not  the 
least  oppressive  of  which,  we  may  be  sure,  was  that  in- 
spired by  his  patriotic  advocacy  of  the  principle  laid  down 


246  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

in  that  famous  Declaration,  Lincoln  again  pleaded  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  doctrines  of  universal  liberty.  It  was 
this,  he  said,  that  gave  promise  that  in  due  time  the 
weight  should  be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men. 
And  he  added  :  "  If  this  country  cannot  be  saved  with- 
out giving  up  that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would 
rather  be  assassinated  on  this  spot  than  surrender  it." 
Only  those  few  who  knew  at  that  time  of  the  wicked  plot 
against  his  life,  noticed  the  allusion  to  what  was  evidently 
in  Lincoln's  mind — the  danger  of  assassination  that  then 
menaced  him. 

Passing  out  upon  a  platform  that  had  been  built  in  front 
of  Independence  Hall,  Lincoln  took  hold  of  the  halyards 
and  ran  to  the  top  of  the  flag-staff  the  beautiful  banner  of 
stars  and  stripes  that  had  been  prepared  for  this  special 
occasion.  Amid  the  cheers  of  the  vast  multitude,  the  na- 
tional ensign,  now  an  object  of  hatred  and  contempt  in  so 
many  States  of  the  Union,  floated  brilliantly  from  the 
mast-head,  raisedi  by  the  willing  hands  of  the  man  who,  of 
all  others  in  the  republic,  had  been  most  faithful  to  the 
principles  and  sentiments  of  the  Declaration  proclaimed 
from  this  sacred  spot. 

Later  in  the  day,  when  Lincoln  addressed  the  assem- 
bled Legislature  of  the  State,  in  Harrisburg,  he  said, 
speaking  of  the  flag-raising  : 

"  Our  friends  there  had  provided  a  magnificent  flag  of  the 
country.  They  had  arranged  it  so  that  I  was  given  the  honor 
of  raising  it  to  the  head  of  its  staff.  And  when  it  went  up  I 
was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its  place  by  the  strength  of  my  own 


WELCOMED    TO  HARRISBURG.  247 

feeble  arm.  When,  according  to  the  arrangement,  the  cord  was 
pulled,  and  it  flaunted  gloriously  to  the  wind  without  an  acci- 
dent, in  the  bright  glowing  sunshine  of  the  morning,  I  could 
not  help  hoping  that  there  was  in  the  entire  success  of  that 
beautiful  ceremony  at  least  something  of  an  omen  of  what  is  to 
come.  Nor  could  I  help  feeling  then,  as  I  often  have  felt,  that 
in  the  whole  of  that  proceeding  I  was  a  very  humble  instru- 
ment. I  had  not  provided  the  flag  ;  I  had  not  made  the  ar- 
rangements for  elevating  it  to  its  place.  I  had  applied  but  a 
very  small  portion  of  my  feeble  strength  in  raising  it.  In  the 
whole  transaction  I  was  in  the  hands  of  the  people  who  had 
arranged  it ;  and  if  I  can  have  the  same  generous  cooperation 
of  the  people  of  the  nation,  I  think  the  flag  of  our  country  may 
yet  be  kept  flaunting  gloriously." 

When  Lincoln  had  been  welcomed  to  Harrisburg,  on 
his  arrival,  the  Speaker  had  uttered  some  words,  rather 
unadvisedly  perhaps,  as  to  the  military  support  that  Penn- 
sylvania would  give  the  imperilled  Union  in  case  of  need. 
Right  royally  did  the  State  fulfil  that  implied  promise  ; 
but  Lincoln  deprecated  any  reference  to  the  possibility, 
much  more  to  the  probability,  that  we  should  have  a  war 
with  the  South.  And  in  his  speech  at  the  State  capitol, 
he  said : 

"  I  recur  for  a  moment  to  some  words  uttered  at  the  hotel  in 
regard  to  what  had  been  said  about  the  military  support  which 
the  general  government  may  expect  from  the  Commonwealth 
of  Pennsylvania  in  a  proper  emergency.  To  guard  against  any 
possible  mistake  do  I  recur  to  this.  It  is  not  with  any  pleas- 
ure that  I  contemplate  the  possibility  that  a  necessity  may 
arise  in  this  country  for  the  use  of  the  military  arm.  While  I 
am  exceedingly  gratified  to  see  the  manifestation  upon  your 
streets  of  your  military  force  here,  and  exceedingly  gratified  at 
your  promise  here  to  use  that  force  upon  a  proper  emergency 


248  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

— while  I  make  these  acknowledgments,  I  desire  to  repeat,  in 
order  to  preclude  any  possible  misconstruction,  that  I  do  most 
sincerely  hope  that  we  shall  have  no  use  for  them  ;  that  it  will 
never  become  their  duty  to  shed  blood,  and  most  especially 
never  to  shed  fraternal  blood.  I  promise  that,  so  far  as  I  may 
have  wisdom  to  direct,  if  so  painful  a  result  shall  in  any  wise 
be  brought  about,  it  shall  be  through  no  fault  of  mine." 

The  general  expectation  was  that  Lincoln,  with  the 
party  that  had  come  on  from  the  West  with  him,  should 
take  a  late  train  that  night  for  Washington,  passing 
through  Baltimore.  In  order  to  frustrate  the  plans  of  the 
conspirators,  it  was  privately  arranged  that  he  should  take 
an  earlier  train  and  depart  from  Harrisburg  without  the 
usual  public  announcement  being  given  by  telegraph. 
Accordingly,  the  telegraph  wires  were  cut  in  every  direc- 
tion. Harrisburg  was  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  coun- 
try, so  far  as  this  means  of  communication  was  concerned, 
and  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  two  or  three  devoted  per- 
sonal friends,  took  a  special  train  to  Philadelphia,  drove  at 
once  to  the  railway  station,  found  ready  the  Washington 
train,  and  so  passed  through  Baltimore  hours  before  he 
was  expected  to  arrive  there.  There  have  been  many 
absurd  stories  circulated  since  then  as  to  Lincoln  being 
compelled  to  assume  a  disguise  for  this  dangerous  part  of 
the  journey.  It  is  sufficiently  disgraceful  to  the  republic 
of  the  United  States,  that  its  lawfully  elected  chief  magis- 
trate should  have  been  put  in  danger  of  his  life  when  pro- 
ceeding from  his  home  to  the  seat  of  government.  But 
the  tales  of  a  masquerading  disguise,  donned  for  this  occa- 
sion, were  invented,  for  the  most  part,  by  those  who  se- 


HIS  SAFE  ARRIVAL   AT    THE    CAPITAL.  249 

cretly  sympathized  with  the  would-be  assassins.  Unfortu- 
nately, some  of  these  idle  tales  have  survived,  to  be 
repeated  by  careless  writers. 

Speaking  of  this  sad  episode  long  afterwards,  Lincoln 
said  :  "  I  did  not  then,  nor  do  I  now,  believe  I  should  have 
been  assassinated  had  I  gone  through  Baltimore,  as  first 
contemplated,  but  I  thought  it  wise  to  run  no  risk  where 
no  risk  was  necessary."  Washington  was  surprised  to 
wake  up  early  on  the  morning  of  February  23,  1861,  to 
find  that  the  President-elect,  so  soon  to  be  President  in 
fact,  had  arrived  safely.  His  family  came  on  soon  after 
him,  and  the  party  were  installed  at  temporary  quarters 
in  a  hotel,  pending  his  formal  inauguration  into  the  great 
office  to  which  he  had  been  chosen.  Washington  was  in- 
tensely secession  in  its  social  sympathies.  It  had  been 
dominated  for  years  by  the  Southern  and  slave-holding 
element.  The  leaders  of  society  hated  the  "  black  Repub- 
licans "  and  all  connected  with  them.  They  were  glad 
that  a  war  for  slavery  was  coming,  and  they  showed  their 
disloyalty  to  the  Union  by  every  possible  means,  serious 
or  silly.  The  rebels  had  adopted  "  Dixie  "  as  a  "  nation- 
al "  air  for  the  new  confederacy,  and  this  and  other  alleged 
rebel  tunes  poured  from  the  windows  of  the  houses  of  the 
rebel  sympathizers,  day  and  night,  until  some  of  the  regi- 
ments that  occupied  Washington  later  in  the  year  took 
up  the  so-called  rebel  strains  and  made  them  too  common 
to  be  regarded  any  longer  as  exclusively  rebel  property. 
These  envenomed  and  irritated  people  were  at  a  loss  for 
slanders  vile  enough,  and  epithets  unsavory  enough,  to 


250  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

express  their  detestation  of  Lincoln  and  all  that  apper- 
tained to  him.  To  this  day,  undoubtedly,  many  honest 
and  worthy  people  entertain  false  notions  of  Lincoln,  his 
family,  his  antecedents,  and  his  conduct  in  office,  derived 
from  the  malicious  gossip  of  those  who  hoped,  for  a  time, 
that  he  would  be  sent  back  to  Illinois  dead  or  alive,  and 
that  "  President  Davis  "  would  come  and  take  his  place. 
All  this  was  of  short  duration.  The  truth  of  history 
sooner  or  later  is  vindicated.  But  it  is  worth  while  to 
put  on  record,  as  a  faithful  chronicle  of  the  time,  the  fact 
that  no  man  was  more  thoroughly  misunderstood  or  more 
bitterly  maligned  than  was  Abraham  Lincoln  when,  on  the 
brink  of  civil  war,  he  took  up  the  reins  of  government. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
LINCOLN'S  INAUGURATION. 

A  Notable  Gathering  in  Washington — The  First  Inaugural  Address — 
How  it  was  Received  North  and  South — Precautions  against  Plots 
— Formation  of  the  Cabinet — Representative  Men. 

IT  was  a  notable  gathering  of  men  that  was  assembled 
about  Lincoln  when  he  was  inaugurated  President 
of  the  United  States,  March  4,  1861.  Among  these 
were  many  whose  names  will  always  hold  place  in  the 
history  of  our  country.  James  Buchanan,  the  weak  and 
irresolute,  was  just  relinquishing  the  reins  of  government 
to  the  new  man,  "  from  the  West."  Taney,  Chief-Justice 
of  the  United  States,  whose  name  is  forever  linked  with 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  administered  the  oath  of  office 
to  the  incoming  President.  W.  H.  Seward,  formerly 
Governor  of  and  then  Senator  from  New  York,  soon 
to  be  Secretary  of  State,  was  there.  Senators  Sumner 
and  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  early  Free  Soilers,  and  each 
destined  to  occupy  prominent  places  in  the  management 
of  public  affairs,  were  also  there.  Senator  "  Ben  "  Wade, 
of  Ohio,  another  Free-Soil  leader;  General  Scott,  the  great 
military  leader -of  the  time;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Lin- 
coln's old  rival  ;  Edward  D.  Baker,  Lincoln's  friend  and 

251 


252  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

dearly-beloved  companion,  and  many  more  who  were 
either  famous  then  or  subsequently  became  so, — these 
all  formed  a  group  of  historic  interest.  The  ceremony 
of  inauguration  took  place  on  a  platform  constructed  at 
the  east  front  of  the  capitol,  then  not  fully  finished,  over- 
looking a  large  and  open  esplanade,  at  the  outer  verge  of 
which  a  marble  statue  of  Washington  shone  whitely  in 
the  brilliant  sunshine.  Curiosity  to  see  the  face  of  the 
new  President,  and  anxiety  to  hear  what  he  might  say,  had 
drawn  enormous  crowds  to  the  national  capital.  The  pres- 
sure of  people  was  something  unprecedented,  even  in 
Washington,  where  the  inauguration  of  an  Administration 
has  always  been  a  great  event,  once  in  four  years.  The 
multitudes  of  office-hunters  doubtless  added  greatly  to 
the  press  of  people.  The  major  portion  of  the  crowd  that 
thronged  the  capital  was  made  up  of  people  who  were 
profoundly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  gravity  of  the 
occasion,  the  solemnity  of  the  crisis  through  which 
the  nation  was  now  about  to  pass.  Treason  lurked 
in  every  quarter.  Not  only  were  the  departments  of  the 
government  and  the  halls  of  Congress  poisoned  by  the 
presence  of  open  or  secret  rebels,  but  many  officers  of 
the  army  and  navy  were  ready  to  serve  in  the  ranks  of 
the  seceders.  Some  of  these  had  already  accepted  ap- 
pointments and  commissions  from  the  so-called  "  Confed- 
erate States  of  America,"  while  they  were  yet  in  the 
service  of  the  republic.  Men  distrusted  each  other. 
Spies  were  known  to  be  about,  and  suspicions  of  a  plot 
to  assassinate  the  President-elect  were  rife.  Even  while 


254  THE  LIFE*OF  LINCOLN. 

the  eager  throngs  surged  about  the  platform,  high  above 
their  heads,  on  which  Lincoln  stood  with  his  friends  around 
him,  many  a  man  half-expected  that  he  might  hear  a 
gunshot,  or  see  a  sudden  rush  of  conspirators  from  the 
marble  colonnades  that  formed  the  picturesque  back- 
ground of  the  scene.  Doubtless,  much  of  this  appre- 
hension was  not  well-founded.  It  is  the  unknown  that  is 
most  dreaded.  So  many  stories,  more  or  less  exaggerated, 
had  been  put  into  circulation  concerning  the  plans  of  the 
conspirators,  their  possible  plots  and  desperate  hatred, 
that  a  suspense,  most  painful  and  tense,  pervaded  the 
people.  All  over  the  country,  on  that  famous  day,  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  patriotic  citizens  waited  with 
almost  suspended  breath,  to  hear  portentous  news  from 
Washington. 

In  the  midst  of  that  vast  concourse,  Lincoln  stood, 
calm,  dignified,  self-possessed,  undaunted,  and  unshrink- 
ing. The  fateful  hour  had  come.  He  stood  on  the 
threshold  of  the  high  office  which  he  was  never  to  sur- 
render but  with  his  life.  His  mind  was  more  occupied 
with  the  grave  events  slowly  unfolding  in  the  history  of 
his  country,  than  with  any  thing  personal  to  himself.  He 
was  about  to  outline  and  define  his  future  policy,  to  give 
formal  expression  to  his  feelings  and  sentiments,  to  indi- 
cate, as  far  as  this  was  possible  in  an  inaugural  address, 
what  course  he  would  pursue  to  the  States  that  had  de- 
clared themselves  outside  of  the  American  Union.  Many 
people,  ardent  friends  and  followers  of  Lincoln,  were  even 
then  afraid  that  he  would  take  what  they  called  a  "  rad- 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  255 

ical "  view  of  the  situation,  and  would  say  something  to 
anger  and  exasperate  the  sullen  and  hostile  rebels.  They 
were  needlessly  alarmed.  Lincoln's  oration  was  a  model 
of  a  generous,  pleading,  kindly,  and  withal  reasoning  ad- 
dress. His  arguments  were  more  implied  than  assertive, 
put  in  his  favorite  form  of  questions,  rather  than  in  declar- 
ations. Clearly,  he  hoped,  as  many  others  then  did,  that 
reason  and  persuasiveness  might  yet  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  masses  of  the  Southern  people  so  that  they 
would  forsake  their  wilful  leaders,  or  brush  them  aside 
and  declare  for  the  Union.  To  reach  these  through  their 
judgment  and  their  patriotism,  was  the  main  purpose  of 
Lincoln's  inaugural  address.  This  was  a  disappointment 
to  the  Southern  leaders,  and  great  pains  were  taken  to 
suppress  or  distort  some  portions  of  the  oration  when  it 
was  subsequently  printed  in  the  South. 

Lincoln  took  occasion,  early  in  this  address,  to  reassure 
the  Southern  people  of  his  intention  to  let  slavery  alone 
where  it  then  existed.  It  had  been  said  that  the  acces- 
sion to  the  presidency  of  a  man  who  had  been  nominated 
by  the  Republicans  was,  in  itself,  a  threat  against  slavery ; 
that  he  would  urge  legislation  to  abolish  domestic  servi- 
tude, and  would  instantly  begin  his  Administration  with 
measures  designed  to  encourage  slave  insurrections  and  a 
general  unsettlement  of  Southern  institutions.  To  dispel 
this  delusion,  which  had  been  industriously  fostered, 
Lincoln  said  : 

"  Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that,  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  admin- 


256  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

istration,  their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security, 
are  to  be  endangered.  There  never  has  been  any  reasonable 
cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence 
to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and  been  open  to  their 
inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches  of 
him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those 
speeches,  when  I  declare  that  '  I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or 
indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
States  where  it  exists.'  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do 
so.  Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  the 
full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and  many  similar  declara- 
tions, and  had  never  recanted  them." 

These  were  reassuring  words ;  words  anxiously  de- 
signed to  conciliate  the  South,  to  remove  possible  misap- 
prehensions, and  allay  groundless  suspicions.  We  shall 
see  how  ineffectual  they  were  to  change  the  determination 
of  the  men  who  had  resolved  upon  rebellion.  In  like 
manner,  he  committed  himself  to  the  doctrine,  enunciated 
in  the  Federal  Constitution,  that  a  slave  who  escapes 
from  a  slave  State  into  a  free  State,  is  not  thereby  made 
free;  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Republicans  was  that  only 
the  voluntary  bringing  of  a  slave  into  free  territory  eman- 
cipated him.  And  it  was  shocking  to  some  of  Lincoln!s 
more  radical  friends  that  he  should  thus  justify  the  fugi- 
tive-slave law  as  constitutional.  Lincoln  merely  insisted 
on  such  an  administration  of  the  law  that  no  free  man, 
under  any  circumstances,  should  be  surrendered  as  a  slave. 

He  traced  the  process  by  which  the  Union  of  the  States 
had  been  formed  and  the  Constitution  had  become  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  republic,  from  which  he  argued 
that  an  act  of  secession,  so-called,  was  of  no  effect ;  that 


THE  FIRST  INAUGURAL   ADDRESS. 

no  State  could  leave  the  Union  without  the  assent  of  the 
other  States  of  that  Union.  This  is  the  way  he  put  the 
case:  "  It  follows  from  these  views  that  no  State,  upon 
its  own  mere  motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union  ; 
that  resolves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally  void  ; 
and  that  acts  of  violence  within  any  State,  or  States, 
against  the  authority  of  the  United  States  are  insurrec- 
tionary, or  revolutionary,  according  to  circumstances." 
Then  Lincoln,  having  shown  by  a  clear  and  luminous  argu- 
ment that  no  State  could  "  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union," 
proceeded  to  say  that  the  oath  to  support  the  Constitu- 
tion expressly  enjoined  on  him  the  duty  of  seeing  that 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  were  faithfully  executed  in 
all  the  States  ;  and  that  he  should  do  this  until  the  sover- 
eign people,  the  rightful  masters,  should  refuse  to  supply 
him  with  the  means  of  enforcing  that  authority  or  in 
some  authoritative  manner  direct  to  the  contrary.  But 
he  immediately  added,  as  if  solicitous  that  his  peaceful 
and  amicable  intentions  should  be  fully  appreciated :  "  I 
trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as 
the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitu- 
tionally defend  and  maintain  itself.  In  doing  this  there 
need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence,  and  there  shall  be  none 
unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  national  authority." 

It  was  this  express,  solemn,  and  emphatic  declaration  of 
the  incoming  President  that  disconcerted  the  rebel  leaders. 
They  had  expected  that  Lincoln  would  threaten  ;  but, 
with  his  usual  sagacity,  he  laid  upon  his  enemies,  the 
enemies  of  the  Union,  the  responsibility  of  beginning  the 


258  THE   LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

war,  if  war  was  to  be.  Lincoln  was  always,  as  we  have 
seen,  fair  and  generous  in  his  treatment  of  his  opponents. 
This  generosity  breathed  in  every  line  of  his  inaugural 
address.  Nevertheless,  nothing  would  move  him  to  sur- 
render a  principle  once  accepted  as  truth.  Passing  from 
this  pleading  for  full  faith  and  confidence  in  his  peaceable 
intentions,  he  immediately  added  :  "  The  power  confided 
to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  prop- 
erty and  places  belonging  to  the  government."  The  men 
who,  even  then,  were  planning  to  seize  forts,  arsenals, 
and  other  governmental  property,  as  their  "  share  "  of 
the  property  of  the  old  Union,  were  doubtless  glad  to 
hear  this  utterance.  They  wanted  war.  Lincoln  said  that 
there  would  be  no  invasion  ;  but  this  property  of  the  re- 
public would  be  held  and  defended.  The  rebel  leaders 
knew  that  they  were  ready  to  seize  this  property,  and 
that  bloodshed  and  violence  must  needs  come.  Lincoln's 
plea  for  peace,  while  it  was  purposely  designed  to  appease 
the  South,  had  the  effect  of  turning  upon  the  rebel  leaders 
the  responsibility  of  beginning  and  inviting  hostilities. 

Lincoln  also  argued  against  the  possibility  of  a  com- 
plete separation  of  the  Northern  States  and  the  Southern 
States,  even  should  both  consent,  or  agree,  to  such  an 
attempt  at  a  division  of  the  republic.  "  Physically  speak- 
ing," he  said,  "  we  cannot  separate  ;  we  cannot  remove  our 
respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable 
wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced, 
and  go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each 
other,  but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  cannot  do 


THE   FIRST  INAUGURAL   ADDRESS.  2$<) 

this."  And  he  showed  that  they  must  remain  face  to  face, 
either  as  friends  or  enemies,  and  that  there  must  be  inter- 
course between  the  two  ;  and  that  it  would  not  be  possi- 
ble to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  as  aliens 
than  it  then  was  as  friends.  Lincoln  showed  his  undying 
faith  in  the  people  by  saying,  after  he  had  argued  plead- 
ingly for  his  proposition  that  the  whole  matter  in  dispute 
should  be  left  to  the  people  :  "  While  the  people  retain 
their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration,  by  any  ex- 
treme wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously  injure  the 
government  in  the  short  space  of  four  years." 

As  Lincoln's  voice,  trained  to  open-air  speaking,  rang 
out,  clear  and  resonant,  above  the  vast  throngs  of  people 
before  him,  the  feelings  of  those  who  heard  him  were 
deeply  stirred.  The  intense,  passionate  love  for  the 
Union  that  had  been  developed  since  its  existence  had 
been  threatened,  manifested  itself  in  spontaneous  cheer- 
ing whenever  any  allusion  to  that  sacred  compact  fell 
on  their  ears.  Everybody  hoped  for  the  best — hoped 
that  the  Union  might  be  saved  and  war  averted.  But  it 
was  also  true  that  the  people  cheered  lustily  at  every 
expression  of  the  new  President's  determination  to  main- 
tain the  dignity  of  the  government  and  defend  the  public 
property.  It  was  evident  that  those  who  heard  the  in- 
augural address  were,  like  Lincoln,  glad  to  avail  them- 
selves of  every  honorable  device  to  keep  the  peace  and 
avoid  war,  but  likewise  determined  to  surrender  no  vital 
principle  for  the  sake  of  present  peace.  Lincoln's  voice 
was  naturally  plaintive,  and  it  sounded  sadly,  and  with 


260  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

pathetic  pleading,  as  he  ended  his  address  with  the  elo- 
quent words : 

"  I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends. 
We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained, 
it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  cords 
of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle-field  and  patriot  grave 
to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land, 
will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched, 
as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

The  oration  was  done.  Its  affectionate  and  tender  ap- 
peal fell  on  unheeding  ears,  so  far  as  it  was  addressed  to 
the  South  and  to  the  Southern  leaders.  They  were  resolved 
on  war — war  for  which  they  had  long  been  secretly  pre- 
paring. Their  response  to  these  loving  words  was  only 
in  terms  of  coarse  jest  and  derision.  But  a  responsive 
shout  of  approval  went  up  from  the  loyal  North.  Lin- 
coln's speech  was  especially  endorsed  by  the  calm  judg- 
ment of  patriotic  people.  And  among  those  who  pressed 
about  President  Lincoln,  when  he  had  solemnly  taken  his 
oath  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  Republic,  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Lincoln's  ancient 
opponent  in  the  field  of  politics.  When  Lincoln  rose  to 
begin  his  address,  he  held  his  hat  in  his  hand.  Looking 
about  in  the  press  for  a  place  to  bestow  his  head-covering, 
his  eye  caught  that  of  Douglas,  who  immediately  reached 
forward  and  took  it  ;  and  he  held  Lincoln's  hat  while  he 
delivered  his  inaugural  oration.  When  it  was  finished, 
Douglas  restored  the  hat  to  its  owner,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  grasped  the  new  President's  hand  and  warmly  as- 


262  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

sured  him  that  he,  his  sometime  political  rival,  not  only 
congratulated  him  on  his  accession  to  high  office,  but 
pledged  him  that  he  would  stand  by  him  and  give  him 
him  hearty  support  in  upholding  the  Constitution  and 
enforcing  the  laws  of  the  country.  The  two  men  clasped 
hands,  and  the  "  Sangamon  Chief"  and  the  "  Little  Giant 
of  Illinois  "  were  friends  ever  after. 

It  had  been  feared  that  some  attempt  would  be  made 
on  Lincoln's  life  while  on  his  way  to  or  from  the  Capitol, 
where  the  inauguration  ceremony  took  place.  Gen.  Scott, 
who  was  in  charge  of  the  military  arrangements,  used  every 
possible  precaution  to  thwart  any  such  plot  as  might  have 
been  on  foot.  But,  even  then,  many  timid  people  were 
afraid  that  sharp-shooters  might  be  concealed  on  the 
roofs,  or  in  the  upper  floors  of  the  houses  along  the  route 
of  the  procession,  and  fire  at  Lincoln  as  he  was  slowly 
driven  to  and  fro.  Therefore,  everybody  felt  relieved 
when  the  ceremony  was  over  and  President  Lincoln  was 
safely  in  the  White  House,  his  family  about  him,  and  his 
term  of  office  formally  begun.  Mr.  Buchanan,  the  out- 
going President,  accompanied  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Capitol 
and  returned  with  him  to  the  White  House,  where,  after 
shaking  hands  with  his  successor,  ex-President  Buchanan 
left  him.  He  was  undoubtedly  glad  to  lay  down  the  cares 
of  the  government ;  and,  having  so  administered  affairs 
as  to  make  things  very  difficult  for  him  who  came  after 
him  in  office,  he  went  away  leaving  few  people  to  regret  his 
going  out  of  office.  Buchanan  went  out  of  place  when  the 
affairs  of  the  government  were  in  the  most  hopeless  con- 


FORMATION  OF   THE   CABINET.  263 

dition  of  disorder  and  confusion.  Lincoln  came  in  when 
treason  was  rampant  in  every  department  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  the  army  and  navy  were  scattered  far  and  wide  ; 
the  national  treasury  was  empty  and  the  national  credit 
at  a  very  low  ebb ;  an  armed  rebellion  was  threatening 
the  existence  of  the  Union  and  the  permanency  of  the 
government ;  and  many  people  who  were  not  friends  of 
the  secessionists,  were  uncertain  whether  the  national 
government  had  the  lawful  right,  if  it  had  the  power,  to 
prevent  the  Southern  States  from  going  out  of  the  Union 
and  staying  out  of  it,  as  they  proposed  to  do.  Even  at 
this  late  day,  when  Lincoln  was  inaugurated,  there  were 
not  a  few  loyal  men  who  thought  that  it  would  be  best, 
rather  than  resort  to  blows,  to  say  to  the  Southern  States, 
"  Erring  sisters,  go  in  peace."  Lincoln  could  not  possibly 
take  that  view  of  the  case.  How  would  he  try  to  preserve 
the  Federal  Union  ?  Everybody  was  asking  this  grave 
question. 

The  first  duty  of  the  President  was  the  formation  of  his 
cabinet.  These  were,  the  men  selected  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  Lincoln  in  carrying  on  the  government  in  the 
trying  times  that  were  coming :  Secretary  of  State,  Wil- 
liam H.  Seward  ;  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron ; 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase  ;  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  Gideon  Welles  ;  Postmaster-General,  Mont- 
gomery Blair  ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Caleb  B.  Smith ; 
Attorney-General,  Edward  Bates. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  of  these  seven  men,  three — 
Seward,  Chase,  and  Cameron — had  been  candidates  for  the 


264  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

presidential  nomination  when  Lincoln  was,  in  1860;  but 
Mr.  Cameron's  candidacy  was  not  very  seriously  pressed. 
Many  of  Lincoln's  friends  were  troubled  by  his  having 
selected  for  cabinet  councillors  men  who  were  ambitious 
of  occupying  the  presidential  office,  and  who  might  prove 
mischievous  by  scheming  for  the  next  nomination,  which 
would  be  made  in  1864.  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Chase,  es- 
pecially, were  men  who  each  had  a  great  political  follow- 
ing, and  who  might  naturally  be  active  in  schemes  to 
secure  the  presidential  office  by  and  by.  But,  although 
Lincoln's  friends  were  thus  disturbed,  the  President  was 
sure  he  was  right.  It  was  necessary,  he  thought,  to  unite 
in  the  support  of  his  administration  all  the  factions  and 
all  the  contending  interests  of  the  loyal  States,  as  far  as 
that  was  possible.  With  one  exception,  that  of  Mr. 
Welles,  each  man  in  the  cabinet  represented  a  large 
political  following  and  a  different  section  of  the  country 
at  large.  Lincoln  said  to  his  personal  advisers :  "  The 
times  are  too  grave  and  perilous  for  ambitious  schemes 
and  personal  rivalries."  He  could  not  believe  it  possible 
that  statesmen  of  the  ability  and  renown  of  those  whom 
he  had  called  around  him  could  cherish  plans  for  their 
personal  aggrandizement  while  the  life  of  the  republic  was 
in  danger.  "  I  need  them  all,"  he  said  ;  "  they  enjoy  the 
confidence  of  their  several  States  and  sections,  and  they 
will  strengthen  the  administration."  To  others  associated 
with  him  in  the  management  of  affairs,  he  said  :  "  Let  us 
forget  ourselves  and  join  hands,  like  brothers,  to  save  the  re- 
public. If  we  succeed,  there  will  be  glory  enough  for  all." 


REPRESENTATIVE  MEN.  265 

It  is  not  generally  the  custom  of  our  people  to  call  any 
man  the  leader  of  the  cabinet  the  Premier,  but  Mr.  Sew- 
ard,  Secretary  of  State,  was  a  statesman  of  commanding 
ability  and  wisdom ;  and  his  high  qualities  as  a  scholar, 
diplomatist,  writer,  and  speaker,  unquestionably  adorned 
his  office  and  shed  lustre  on  the  Lincoln  Administration. 
During  his  term,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  the 
Secretary  of  State  was  often  spoken  of  as  "  the  Premier," 
although  that  title  was  never  officially  recognized.  Mr. 
Seward  had  been  Governor  of  the  great  State  of  New 
York,  and  Senator  of  the  United  States.  A  skilful 
politician  and  a  most  persuasive  orator,  he  had  done 
much  to  consolidate  and  harmonize  the  Republican  party. 
His  selection  to  what  is  popularly  regarded  as  the  first 
place  in  the  cabinet  greatly  pleased  the  people. 

Of  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet,  Mr.  Chase  was 
probably  the  best  known  and  respected,  after  Mr.  Sew- 
ard. He,  too,  had  been  Governor  of  his  State  (Ohio)  as 
well  as  Senator  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  more 
advanced,  or  radical,  Republican  than  any  of  his  col- 
leagues in  the  cabinet,  having  been  regarded  as  an  Aboli- 
tionist. He  framed  the  platform  of  the  Liberty,  or  Free- 
Soil,  party  that  was  adopted  in  Buffalo  in  1848.  He  was 
a  lawyer  of  profound  learning,  and  his  mind  was  judicial 
and  well-balanced.  He  had  had  much  to  do  with  the  up- 
building of  the  Republican  party,  and,  like  Mr.  Seward, 
had  been  the  beloved  candidate  of  many  ardent  party 
men,  when  Lincoln  was  made  the  final  choice  of  the 
organization.  Mr.  Cameron,  as  Secretary  of  War,  was 


266  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

also  an  active  and  useful  politician  and  leader  of  men. 
He  was  accused  of  giving  out  profitable  contracts  and 
lucrative  offices  to  his  "friends,  as  he  had  the  power  to  do ; 
and,  after  a  few  months  of  service,  he  retired  from  the 
War  Department,  giving  place  to  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
who  had  been  Buchanan's  Attorney-General  toward  the 
the  stormy  close  of  that  administration.  The  Blair 
family,  always  Democratic,  had  exercised  great  influence 
in  national  affairs,  Francis  P.  Blair,  senior,  having  been 
a  close  friend  of  President  Andrew  Jackson,  and,  as  editor 
of  the  Washington  Globe,  a  leader  of  public  opinion.  The 
sons,  Montgomery  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  junior,  were 
active  and  zealous  politicians.  Montgomery,  as  Post- 
master-General, represented  Maryland,  one  of  the  border 
States.  New  England  was  represented  in  Gideon  Welles, 
of  Connecticut,  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Mr.  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  was  of  Illinois,  and  had 
been  in  Congress  when  Lincoln  represented  the  Sanga- 
mon  district  in  that  body.  Edward  Bates,  whom  many 
supported  for  the  presidential  nomination,  in  1860,  was  a 
gentleman  of  refinement,  great  learning,  and  dignity.  He 
was  a  lawyer,  and,  as  Attorney-General,  had  served  his 
country  with  eminent  skill.  He  was  formerly  a  Whig, 
and,  being  of  Missouri,  was  a  border-State  representa- 
tive. Thus,  the  States  represented  in  the  cabinet  by 
these  men,  all  of  them  amply  qualified  for  the  proper  dis- 
charge of  their  duties,  were  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  Connecticut,  Illinois,  and  Missouri. 
Mr.  Stanton,  who  subsequently  succeeded  Mr.  Cameron  in 


MR.    SEWARD  AND    THE  PRESIDENT.  267 

the  War  Department,  was  a  resident  of  Ohio.  It  will  be 
seen  that  these  seven  men  represented  a  great  variety  of 
political  sentiments  and  opinions.  They  did  not  always 
agree.  Lincoln  sometimes  facetiously  referred  to  the 
cabinet  as  the  Happy  Family. 

By  those  who  knew  Seward  and  did  not  know  Lincoln, 
it  was  supposed  that  the  former  would  be  virtually  the 
President,  and  that  beyond  the  signing  of  important  pa- 
pers Lincoln  would  have  very  little  to  do  with  the  shaping 
the  policy  of  the  administration.  Mr.  Seward  undertook 
to  revise  and  re-write  the  inaugural  address  above  de- 
scribed. Subsequently,  he  mapped  out  a  plan  of  admin- 
istrative operations  for  the  President,  volunteering  to 
take  the  general  direction  of  affairs,  if  this  were  required 
of  him.  It  was  not  required  of  him,  and  they  who  had 
expected  that  Mr.  Seward  or  anybody  else  would  act  as 
President  in  place  of  Lincoln  were  soon  undeceived.  By 
his  vigor,  firmness,  and  unshrinking  determination,  Lin- 
coln speedily  showed  the  world  that  he,  and  not  another, 
was  the  President  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

PRESIDENT   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  the  White  House — Assembling  of  the  Rebel  Congress — Rebel  Emis- 
saries Sent  to  Washington — A  Vigorous  Policy  Clamored  for — The 
First  Gun  at  Sumter — Great  Excitement  throughout  the  Republic — 
A  Nation  in  Arms — Attack  on  the  Sixth  Massachusetts — Notable 
Deaths. 

WHEN  he  installed  himself  in  the  White  House, 
the  official  residence  of  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  Lincoln  found  that  two  lamentable  features 
of  affairs  were  really  not  wholly  unobjectionable,  from 
one  point  of  view.  He  was  surrounded  by  hordes  of 
office-seekers ;  the  country  was  on  the  brink  of  war. 
Nevertheless,  with  his  ready  way  of  finding  something 
encouraging,  even  in  calamities,  he  said  that  if  the  people 
of  the  loyal  States  did  not  have  implicit  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  the  Union  and  the  government  they  would 
not  flock  in  such  numbers  to  Washington  to  hunt  for 
places  under  that  government.  And,  although  Buchan- 
an's Administration  had  gone  out  of  power  leaving  every 
thing  in  the  wildest  confusion,  it  had  left  no  policy  for 
Lincoln  to  revoke  or  modify.  As  he  expressed  it,  there  was 
nothing  to  be  undone.  Buchanan  had  merely  let  things 
drift.  The  rebels,  meanwhile,  had  been  busily  engaged 

268 


THE  REBEL    CONGRESS.  269 

in  beginning  their  so-called  confederacy.  But  they  made 
very  little  progress.  No  troops  had  been  sent  against 
them.  They  had  no  "  armed  invader  "  to  repel,  as  they 
had  expected.  Although  the  bulk  of  the  United  States 
army  was  practically  in  their  hands,  they  had  no  excuse 
for  righting,  none  for  that  invasion  of  the  North  which 
their  leaders  had  promised,  and  some  of  their  allies  in  the 
free  States  had  expected. 

The  rebel  Congress  assembled  at  Montgomery,  and,  on 
the  ninth  of  March,  1861,  passed  a  bill  for  the  organization 
of  an  army.  This  was  an  insurrectionary  measure,  and 
was  intended  to  draw  the  fire,  so  to  speak,  of  the  govern- 
ment. But  no  steps  were  taken  by  Lincoln.  Next,  two 
commissioners,  or  emissaries,  Mr.  Forsyth  of  Alabama, 
and  Mr.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  were  sent  to  Washington 
to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  Government, 
just  as  if  they  represented  a  foreign  government.  They 
presented  themselves  at  the  State  Department,  but  no  of- 
ficial reception  was  accorded  them,  and  when  they  applied 
to  Lincoln,  the  President  refused  to  see  them,  but  sent 
them,  with  a  certain  grim  humor,  a  copy  of  his  inaugural 
address  as  an  intimation  of  the  views  which,  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  he  had  just  enunciated.  They  were 
in  a  quandary.  Doubtless  they  expected  to  be  arrested, 
as  they  might  have  been,  being  openly  in  rebellion  against 
the  government  and  liable  to  be  tried  for  treason.  Still,  the 
President  did  nothing.  The  commissioners  dallied  in  the 
national  capital  for  a  time,  in  communication  with  their 
friends  in  the  South,  and  gleaning  what  information  they 


2/O  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

could.  In  order  to  delay  their  departure,  they  had  asked 
that  the  reply  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Seward, 
should  be  given  to  them  as  late  as  the  eighth  of  April, 
and  this  request  was  acceded  to.  It  was,  taken  altogether, 
a  most  extraordinary  situation.  Several  States  of  the 
Union  were  formally  in  revolt  against  the  government  of 
the  republic,  with  a  so-called  Congress  in  session,  a  full- 
fledged  government  in  running  order,  an  army  and  navy 
in  process  of  formation,  and  diplomatic  agents  at  the  capi- 
tal of  the  nation.  Lincoln  made  no  sign. 

While  the  commissioners,  Forsyth  and  Crawford,  were 
hanging  about  Washington,  Mr.  Talbot,  a  lieutenant  in 
the  United  States  army,  had  been  sent  to  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  by  the  President,  to  notify  the  authorities 
of  that  State  and  Gen.  Beauregard,  commander  of  the  rebel 
forces,  that  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston  harbor,  would  be 
provisioned  at  all  hazards.  This  determination  of  the 
government  was  also  communicated  to  Forsyth  and 
Crawford  in  Washington.  On  the  eighth  of  April,  Secre- 
tary Seward's  formal  reply  was  given  to  the  commissioners, 
although  it  was  dated  March  fifteenth.  In  the  document, 
which  was  a  memorandum  merely,  Mr.  Seward  formally 
told  the  commissioners  that  they  could  have  no  recogni- 
tion from  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

In  their  reply,  the  commissioners  said  that  they  had  ex- 
pected the  document  earlier,  although  they  acknowledged 
that  they  had,  as  they  expressed  it,  "consented"  to  a 
delay ;  and  they  intimated  that  this  delay  had  been 
availed  of  by  the  United  States  Government  to  prepare 


CLAMOROUS  FOR    WAR.  2JI 

for  war.  Referring  to  President  Lincoln's  expressed  in- 
tention to  send  relief  to  Fort  Sumter,  they  said  that  this 
was,  in  effect,  "  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  Confed- 
erate States,"  and  that,  as  representatives  of  their  people, 
they  accepted  "  the  gage  of  battle  there  thrown  down  to 
them."  They  accordingly  departed  to  their  own  country, 
hopeful  that  the  government  had  forced  upon  them  an 
attitude  of  defence.  Still,  no  overt  act  of  warfare  was 
permitted  by  Lincoln,  who  patiently  waited  for  the  rebels 
to  fire  the  first  gun.  He  had  not  long  to  wait. 

The  city  of  Charleston  was  seething  with  a  mob  of 
secessionists,  impatient  for  the  war  to  open.  The  news- 
papers and  the  more  prominent  leaders  clamored  for 
hostilities  to  be  begun  by  the  Southern  States.  In  a 
public  speech,  delivered  in  Charleston,  April  10,  1861, 
Mr.  Roger  A.  Pryor,  of  Virginia,  declared  that  no  terms 
of  agreement  could  be  acceptable  to  the  South  short  of 
recognition  of  the  confederacy.  Other  Southerners  ex- 
pressed similar  opinions.  The  sentiment  in  the  South 
was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  beginning  active  hostili- 
ties against  "  the  old  Union,"  as  the  phrase  went.  The 
leaders  were  determined,  if  possible,  to  trick  the  President 
into  giving  them  a  pretext  for  war.  On  his  part  he  was 
equally  determined  that  the  overt  act,  for  which  every- 
body was  waiting,  and  about  which  everybody  was  talking, 
should  come  from  the  rebels. 

The  delay  was  exasperating  to  many  of  the  people  of 
the  loyal  States.  Men  clamored  for  "  a  vigorous  policy," 
although  just  such  a  policy  had  been  distinctly  laid  down 


272  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

in  the  inaugural  of  the  President.  They  wanted  some- 
thing done,  and  they  could  not  see  why  Lincoln  should 
wait.  The  newspapers  and  public  speakers  of  the  North 
generally  demanded  that  the  traitors  should  be  arrested 
and  punished.  Especially  was  the  attention  of  the  whole 
people,  North  and  South,  fixed  upon  Fort  Sumter,  where 
Major  Robert  Anderson  was  in  command  of  a  very  small 
force  of  United  States  troops.  The  rebels  regarded  the 
occupation  of  that  fort  as  a  standing  menace  to  the  city 
of  Charleston,  and  they  had,  moreover,  all  along  insisted 
that  all  forts,  arsenals,  and  other  public  property  of  the 
United  States  within  the  limits  of  the  so-called  confed- 
eracy were  now  the  property  of  the  seceded  States,  being 
their  "  share  "  of  the  joint  property  of  the  now  divided 
Union.  The  garrison  of  Fort  Sumter  had  been  on  the 
mainland,  previously,  but  when  the  troubles  began,  Major 
Anderson  moved  his  command  to  Fort  Sumter  one  night, 
to  the  great  wrath  of  the  rebels,  who  construed  this  as 
"  an  overt  act  "  of  hostility  from  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  The  Major  Anderson  to  whom  reference 
is  here  made  is  the  same  who,  as  Lieutenant  Anderson, 
swore  Abraham  Lincoln  into  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States  during  the  Black  Hawk  war,  in  1832.  Since 
that  time  many  changes  had  occurred.  One  of  the  three 
regular  officers  who  were  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  preparing  for 
the  war  with  Black  Hawk's  men,  was  now  in  command  of 
beleaguered  Sumter.  Another,  Zachary  Taylor,  had  been 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  was  dead.  Another, 
Jefferson  Davis,  was  president  of  the  rebel  confederacy. 


SURRENDER   OF  FORT  SUMTER.  273 

And  the  volunteer  captain  was  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  rebels  erected  batteries  on  the  land  commanding 
Fort  Sumter,  and  their  guns  were  trained  upon  the  forti- 
fication with  a  view  to  compelling  its  surrender.  The 
feeling  of  the  men  who  were  nearest  to  the  President  was 
that  the  fort  should  be  reinforced  and  provisioned  and 
held  at  all  hazards.  Its  was  the  pivotal  point  of  the  im- 
pending struggle,  it  was  said,  and  the  fort  should  be  held 
as  a  token  that  the  authority  of  the  Government  was  yet 
unbroken  in  the  South.  Fort  Pickens,  in  the  harbor 
of  Pensacola,  had  been  relieved  by  orders  from  Wash- 
ington, and  the  rebels  were  greatly  enraged  thereat.  Gen. 
Scott,  on  the  other  hand,  advised  that  the  fort  in  Charles- 
ton harbor  should  be  abandoned,  as  a  military  necessity. 
Finally,  President  Lincoln  notified  Beauregard,  command- 
ing the  rebel  forces  at  Charleston,  that  Fort  Sumter  would 
shortly  be  provisioned.  This  would  be  an  act  of  hu- 
manity. The  garrison  were  suffering  for  lack  of  food. 
But  the  rebel  authorities  were  determined  to  consider  the 
sending  of  provisions  to  Sumter  as  that  "  overt  act  "  for 
which  they  had  been  so  long  waiting.  Accordingly, 
Beauregard,  April  I2th,  sent  a  message  to  Anderson 
demanding  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter.  Anderson 
declined  to  surrender.  He  was  then  asked  if  he  would 
evacuate  the  fort,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  would 
leave  it  on  the  I5th,  provided  he  did  not  receive  instruc- 
tions to  the  contrary,  or  succor  from  the  North  before 
the  day  arrived.  Beauregard  then  sent  word  in  a  de- 


274  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

spatch,  dated  at  Charleston,  April  12,  1861,  3:30  A.M.,  that 
in  one  hour  he  would  open  fire  on  Fort  Sumter.  At  half- 
past  four  in  the  morning,  true  to  his  word,  Beauregard 
fired  the  first  gun.  An  aged  secessionist — Ruffin  by  name 
— was  permitted  the  privilege  of  firing  the  first  gun.  It 
was  said  that  this  was  the  final  knell  of  the  Union,  and 
many  estimable  men  and  women  in  Charleston,  as  well 
as  throughout  the  South,  envied  the  amateur  gunner  that 
which  was  thought  to  be  a  very  precious  and  glorious 
privilege.  The  fort  was  feebly  defended.  The  entire 
force  left  to  man  the  fortifications  in  Charleston  harbor 
by  the  treacherous  Floyd,  Buchanan's  Secretary  of  War, 
was  only  sixty-five  men,  instead  of  the  one  thousand  or 
more,  usually  required.  The  troops  were  now  nearly  fam- 
ished, and,  after  a  few  replies  to  the  fierce  cannonading 
from  the  rebel  batteries,  the  flag  of  the  United  States  fell 
from  Fort  Sumter.  On  the  following  day,  April  I3th, 
according  to  stipulations  under  which  Anderson  had  sur- 
rendered, the  flag  was  again  hoisted  and  saluted  with  fifty 
guns.  Then  the  brave  fellows  marched  out,  and  the 
fortress  was  in  possession  of  the  troops  of  the  rebel 
confederacy. 

No  words  can  accurately  describe  the  burst  of  patriotic 
wrath  that  now  swept  over  the  North.  The  rebels  had 
insulted  the  flag  of  the  republic,  had  driven  a  little  frag- 
ment of  the  widely  scattered  army  out  of  one  of  the 
national  defences,  and  had  hoisted  over  that  work  the 
new-fangled  emblem  of  a  power  that  could  never  be  recog- 
nized as  lawful  by  any  citizen  of  the  United  States.  Up 


276  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

to  that  moment  there  had  been  many  loyal  persons  who 
were  doubtful  as  to  the  right  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment to  "  coerce  "  a  State.  The  doctrines  so  sedulously 
preached  during  Buchanan's  last  days  in  office  had  many 
supporters  in  the  free  States.  Even  up  to  the  day  before 
Sumter  fell,  prominent  politicians  were  found  in  the 
North  ready  to  advocate  the  organization  of  a  great  com- 
promise party,  with  the  Union  so  reconstructed  that 
slavery  would  be  recognized  and  protected  everywhere  by 
the  law  of  the  land.  In  an  instant,  as  it  were,  all  this 
rubbish  was  swept  away  by  the  flood-tide  of  patriotism 
that  rose  in  the  States  of  the  North.  With  a  certain 
passionateness  that  would  listen  no  longer  to  talk  of 
compromise,  the  loyal  people  demanded  that  the  insult 
to  the  republic  should  be  avenged  and  the  culprits  pur- 
sued. Up  to  that  time,  there  had  been  no  preparations 
for  war  except  those  that  were  privately  and  even  secretly 
carried  on  by  the  orders  of  Lincoln,  who  knew  that  the 
day  was  coming  when  the  rebels  would  take  the  respon- 
sibility of  beginning  the  war.  Now,  in  consequence  of 
his  long-suffering  forbearance  and  his  wise  slowness,  the 
gun  had  been  fired  by  them.  The  North  was  all  aflame. 
Party  ties  disappeared.  There  was  but  one  party — 
that  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  the  defence  of  the 
insulted  republic.  In  the  rush  and  clamor  of  an  excited 
public  opinion,  the  voice  of  partisanship  was  hushed. 
Nobody  dared  to  whisper  a  word  about  the  unlawfulness 
of  coercion,  or  the  impolicy  of  provoking  the  people  of 
the  seceded  States.  There  was  but  one  voice,  and  that 


A    VIGOROUS  POLICY.  2// 

demanded  that  treason  should  be  suppressed.  President 
Lincoln  issued  a  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  troops,  in 
a  proclamation  dated  April  15,  1861.  In  that  document, 
after  reciting  the  fact  that  powerful  combinations  to 
obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
existed  in  certain  specified  States,  the  President  appealed 
to  all  loyal  citizens  to  promote,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
effort  made  to  defend  and  protect  the  national  Union  and 
to  redress  wrongs  already  long  enough  endured.  He  de- 
clared, furthermore,  as  follows  :  "  I  deem  it  proper  to  say- 
that  the  first  service  assigned  to  the  force  hereby  called 
forth  will  probably  be  to  re-possess  the  forts,  places,  and 
property  which  have  been  seized  from  the  Union  ;  and  in 
every  case  the  utmost  care  will  be  observed,  consistently 
with  the  objects  aforesaid,  to  avoid  any  devastation,  any 
destruction  of,  or  interference  with,  property,  or  any  dis- 
turbance of  peaceful  citizens  of  any  part  of  the  country." 
Even  in  this  extreme  and  trying  moment,  with  the  full 
assurance  of  a  long  war  before  him,  Lincoln  was  deter- 
mined that  nobody  should  justly  say  that  he  had  let  loose 
the  dogs  of  war  without  anxious  desire  to  save  from  harm 
all  innocent  persons.  In  this  proclamation,  also,  the  per- 
sons in  rebellion  against  the  government  were  exhorted 
and  commanded  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  disperse.  At 
the  same  time,  in  view  of  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  that  had 
arisen,  both  Houses  of  Congress  were  summoned  to  meet 
at  the  national  capital,  July  4,  1861. 

The    South  had    been    long  preparing    for  war.      The 
Northern  States  were  almost  wholly  unprepared.     Mem- 


278  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

bers  of  Buchanan's  cabinet,  who  had  had  facilities  for 
doing  so,  had  crowded  into  the  States  of  the  South  every 
valuable  means  for  assault  and  defence  that  the  govern- 
ment owned.  In  the  North,  Lincoln's  call  for  men  was 
received  with  tremendous  enthusiasm.  In  the  South,  it 
was  greeted  with  shrieks  of  derision.  In  the  border 
States  (the  States  lying  between  those  that  were  already, 
as  they  believed,  out  of  the  Union,  and  the  free  States) 
the  call  for  troops  was  received  with  coldness.  The 
attitude  of  these  States — Virginia,  Missouri,  Tennessee, 
Maryland,  and  others — had  been  an  object  of  great  anx- 
iety to  the  President  and  his  advisers.  Indeed,  for  a  long 
time  after  the  war  actually  began,  what  the  border  States 
would  say  and  do  was  thought  to  be  of  very  great  import- 
ance. If  they  joined  the  rebel  confederacy,  all  was  lost. 
If  they  preserved  a  neutral  attitude,  it  was  felt  that  their 
inclinations  would  be  towards  the  rebels,  and  that  their 
territory  would  be  a  convenient  camping-ground  for  men 
bent  upon  an  invasion  of  the  loyal  North.  This  latter 
idea  was  industriously  cultivated  in  the  South,  and  news- 
papers and  speakers  of  that  time  constantly  referred  to 
the  certainty  that  the  confederate  flag  would  soon  float 
over  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  and  that  Lincoln  and  his 
cabinet  would  become  fugitives. 

The  governor  of  Delaware  issued  a  call  for  troops  to 
defend  the  property  and  citizens  of  that  State  from  vio- 
lence, and,  taking  the  ground  that  he  had  no  authority  to 
respond  with  State  troops  to  a  call  from  the  national 
government,  he  said  that  troops  volunteering  might 


REPLIES  OF  THE   GOVERNORS.  2/9 

choose  between  defending  home  interests  and  offering 
their  services  to  the  national  government.  The  governor 
of  Maryland  called  out  four  regiments  of  militia  to  serve 
within  the  limits  of  the  State.  The  governor  of  Virginia 
replied  to  the  call  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  President, 
in  which  he  denounced  Lincoln's  call  for  troops  as  an 
attempt  to  subjugate  the  South  ;  and  he  defied  the 
Administration  in  bitter  terms.  The  governor  of  North 
Carolina  replied  in  a  similar  vein,  declaring  that  he  would 
be  no  party  to  "  this  war  upon  the  liberties  of  a  free 
people."  The  governor  of  Kentucky  made  answer  that 
that  State  would  "  furnish  no  troops  for  the  wicked  pur- 
pose of  subduing  her  sister  Southern  States."  The 
governors  of  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  replied  in  a  like 
strain  ;  and  the  governor  of  Missouri,  who  afterwards 
took  part  in  the  war  against  the  government,  said  :  "  Your 
requisition  is  illegal,  unconstitutional,  revolutionary,  in- 
human, diabolical,  and  cannot  be  complied  with." 

These  singular  utterances  of  governors  of  States  form- 
ing parts  of  the  American  Republic  are  of  interest  now  as 
showing,  in  some  degree,  the  condition  of  feeling  that 
existed  along  that  line  between  the  old  cotton-growing, 
slave-breeding  section  of  the  Union  and  the  free  States  of 
the  North. 

Far  different  was  the  response  from  the  loyal  North. 
Massachusetts  was  the  first  to  reply  with  troops  ready  for 
the  march.  John  A.  Andrew,  then  and  afterwards  a 
devoted  friend  of  the  Union,  and  a  patriot  of  unswerving 
fidelity,  was  governor  of  the  State.  He  responded  with 


280  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

four  regiments  of  men  within  forty-eight  hours  after  Lin- 
coln's proclamation  was  received.  It  should  be  said  here 
that  the  readiness  of  Massachusetts  to  answer  with  fight- 
ing men  was  largely  due  to  the  vigilance  of  Nathaniel  P. 
Banks,  who,  when  governor  of  that  State,  some  years 
before,  placed  the  militia  on  a  footing  of  such  efficiency 
as  to  armament  and  drill  that  they  were  prepared  for  the 
call  which,  as  he  had  long  believed,  must  eventually  come. 
The  governor  of  Rhode  Island,  William  Sprague,  called 
the  Legislature  together,  offered  the  government  one 
thousand  infantry  and  a  battalion  of  artillery,  and,  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  these  forces,  marched  to  Washing- 
ton. Governor  Morgan,  of  New  York,  and  Governor 
Curtin,  of  Pennsylvania,  responded  with  a  like  promptness 
and  with  the  tender  of  the  vast  resources  of  these  two 
great  States.  It  was  a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  hastily 
despatched,  that  first  reached  the  national  capital,  just  in 
time  to  defeat  a  seizure  by  the  rebel  forces.  In  the 
Northwest,  where  Lincoln  was  idolized  by  the  people,  the 
rush  to  arms  in  defence  of  the  Union  was  wonderful. 
Under  the  call  for  men,  Ohio's  quota  was  thirteen  thou- 
sand men.  Within  a  week  after  that  call  was  issued, 
seventy-one  thousand  had  offered  their  services  to  the 
governor  of  that  State,  the  patriotic  Dennison. 

This  fiery  and  determined  temper  prevailed  throughout 
the  free  States  of  the  North.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  men  fought  for  the  privilege  of  fighting  for  the  coun- 
try and  the  flag.  Those  who  were  compelled  to  remain 
behind  regarded  their  more  fortunate  fellow-townsmen 


"LIBERTY  AND  UNION."  28 1 

with  envy.  Lincoln  had  called  for  seventy-five  thousand. 
More  than  five  hundred  thousand  had  sprung  to  arms 
in  response  to  the  call.  Those  who  were  chosen  were  the 
citizen  soldiers  of  the  republic.  They  were  drawn  from 
homes  and  families  in  which  the  lessons  of  patriotism  had 
been  taught  them  from  childhood.  They  were  the  sons 
of  honorable  men  and  women,  many  of  whom  were  the 
direct  lineal  descendants  of  those  who  fought  for  the 
independence  of  the  republic.  They  went  forth  to  battle 
for  the  imperilled  Union,  followed  by  the  prayers  and 
cheered  by  the  willing  consent  of  fathers  and  mothers. 
Such  an  outpouring  has  never  been  seen  elsewhere  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  "  Liberty  and  Union  "  was  the  watch- 
word of  these  ardent  men.  In  the  churches,  prayers  were 
continually  offered  for  the  maintenance  and  preservation 
of  the  Union  and  the  safety  and  triumph  of  the  armies 
defending  it.  Great  moneyed  corporations  proffered 
loans  to  the  impoverished  national  government.  State 
Legislatures  and  capitalists  subscribed  vast  sums  of  money 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  to  provide  for  the  families  of 
those  who  had  gone  to  the  war.  In  the  streets,  in  the 
houses  of  the  people,  and  in  ever)7  place  of  public  amuse- 
ment war  songs  were  sung,  war-cries  were  shouted,  and 
the  popular  idol  of  the  hour  was  the  volunteer  bound  for 
the  devious  verge  of  battle  to  be  fought.  Senators,  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  civilians  of  prominence  in  the  nation, 
and  men  who  could  not  possibly  have  been  expected  to 
enlist  in  the  war,  pressed  to  Washington,  pleading  for 
some  opportunity  to  serve  the  government.  Arms  for 


282  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

this  great  multitude  were  not  readily  obtainable,  and  the 
State  which,  like  Massachusetts,  had  been  ready  betimes, 
occupied  an  enviable  position  among  its  sister  States. 

Just  before  the  gun  was  fired  on  Sumter,  Lincoln  was 
seeing  his  darkest  days.  He  was  profoundly  depressed. 
While  he  yet  retained  his  abiding  faith  in  the  loyal  peo- 
ple, he  was,  nevertheless,  somewhat  influenced  by  the 
croakings  and  the  lamentations  of  some  of  those  who 
were  around  him  and  who  were  despondent  over  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  situation.  In  the  midst  of  this  gloom,  while 
doubt  and  uncertainty  hung  like  a  mist  over  the  nation, 
obscuring  cheerful  sights  and  magnifying  shadows,  the 
voice  of  a  mighty  people,  as  the  voice  of  one  man,  burst 
upon  the  ear  of  the  melancholy  President.  A  great  and 
free  people,  determined  that  the  slave-holders'  rebellion 
should  be  crushed,  encouraged  and  stimulated  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  republic.  The  tread  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  feet  resounded  along  the  highways  and  byways  of  the 
North.  It  was  the  tread  of  the  mighty  army  that  should 
never  retire  until  the  country  was  saved  from  disunion 
and  the  flag  had  been  restored  to  the' staff  from  which  it 
had  been  lowered  in  disgrace. 

Great  intensity  was  added  to  this  feeling  when  one  of 
the  regiments  marching  to  the  relief  of  Washington  was 
fired  upon  by  a  secession  mob  in  Baltimore.  This  was 
the  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  the  first  to  be  de- 
spatched to  the  national  capital.  The  march  of  this  fine 
body  of  men  was  a  novel  and  startling  event  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  country.  Everywhere  it  provoked  a  fresh 


ATTACK  ON  THE   SIXTH  MASSACHUSETTS.       283 

burst  of  patriotism.  Its  route  to  the  borders  of  the  free 
States  was  one  line  of  glorious  welcome  and  cheer. 
Women  thronged  to  the  railway  trains  bearing  these 
young  heroes,  offering  gifts  and  refreshments,  and  vast 
crowds  greeted  them  with  flags,  music,  and  words  of  hearty 
encouragement.  The  sight  and  the  news  of  their  march 
awoke  thousands  of  other  young  men  to  dreams  of  mighty 
deeds,  and  another  impetus  was  given  to  the  volunteering 
movement  all  over  the  land.  The  march  of  this  compact 
body  of  men  through  the  great  metropolitan  city  of  New 
York  was  an  event  long  to  be  remembered  by  those  who 
beheld  it.  The  merchant  forsook  his  ledger  and  the  work- 
man his  bench  to  look  upon  the  wonderful  spectacle  of  a 
regiment  of  fighting  men  on  the  way  to  the  front  of  bat- 
tle. Tidings  of  its  coming  awoke  the  rough  and  traitor- 
ous element  of  the  population  of  Baltimore,  the  same  city 
which  had  threatened  the  life  of  Lincoln  when  he  was  en 
route  for  the  national  capital.  A  mob,  carrying  a  rebel  flag 
and  hurriedly  armed,  attacked  the  regiment  in  transit, 
and,  on  the  nineteenth  of  April,  several  members  of  the 
Sixth  Massachusetts  were  killed  in  the  streets  of  that 
city.  Others  were  wounded,  and  the  city  was  in  an  up- 
roar, the  more  conspicuous  portion  of  the  people  declar- 
ing that  further  passage  of  troops  was  not  to  be  permitted. 
This  event  produced  a  prodigious  sensation  throughout 
the  whole  land.  In  the  North,  the  feeling  was  one  of 
burning  indignation.  In  the  South,  there  was  great 
rejoicing.  The  deluded  rebels  saw  in  the  affair  confirma- 
tion of  their  belief  that  no  loyal  troops  would  be  allowed 


284  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

to  pass  over  the  soil  of  a  border  State  to  the  defence  of 
the  capital.  Maryland  was  a  slave-holding  State.  In  the 
recent  election  for  President,  Lincoln  had  been  given  only 
about  two  thousand  votes  of  its  ninety-two  thousand 
cast  for  the  various  candidates.  Mr.  Hicks,  the  Gov- 
ernor  of  the  State,  was  thoroughly  frightened,  and  he 
implored  the  President  that  no  more  troops  should  be 
permitted  to  pass  through  Baltimore.  He  would  not 
be  answerable  for  the  consequences.  He  even  suggested 
that  the  "  dispute  "  between  the  North  and  South  should 
be  referred  to  the  British  Minister  in  Washington,  Lord 
Lyons,  for  arbitration.  As  to  the  bringing  of  troops 
through  Baltimore,  Lincoln  said  that  he  did  not  insist  on 
that,  if  it  could  be  avoided,  and  he  left  the  matter  to 
General  Scott,  who  had  said  that  men  could  be  carried 
around  the  city,  and  all  possibility  of  a  collision  avoided, 
unless  the  citizens  sought  occasion  for  a  quarrel.  As  for 
the  proposition  to  submit  the  matters  in  dispute  to  arbi- 
tration, Lincoln,  with  his  usual  wisdom,  referred  Governor 
Hicks  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  In  an  admirable  reply 
to  the  Governor,  Secretary  Seward,  referring  to  the  burn- 
ing of  the  capital  of  Maryland  by  the  British,  in  the  war 
of  1 8 12,  said  that  "there  had  been  a  time  when  a  general 
of  the  American  Union,  with  forces  designed  for  the  de- 
fence of  its  capital  was  not  unwelcome  anywhere  in  Mary- 
land "  ;  and  he  added  that  "  if  all  the  other  nobler  senti- 
ments of  Maryland  had  been  obliterated,  one,  at  least,  it 
was  hoped  would  remain,  and  that  was  that  no  domestic 
contention  should  be  referred  to  any  foreign  arbitrament, 
least  of  all,  to  that  of  a  European  monarchy." 


PROMPT  ACTION  OF  GENERAL  BUTLER.  285 

The  attack  on  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  was  followed  by 
the  destruction  of  the  bridges  that  connect  Baltimore 
with  the  Northern  and  Western  States.  For  a  time,  rail- 
way communication  with  the  national  capital  was  inter- 
rupted and  the  danger  to  that  city  was  for  a  time  height- 
ened. Its  sole  defence,  during  those  days  of  peril,  was  a 
small  but  loyal  body  of  volunteer  troops  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Charles  P.  Stone,  an  officer  who  had 
rendered  the  country  most  valuable  service  in  detecting 
and  disarming  a  conspiracy  headed  by  men  who  subse- 
quently fled  into  the  rebel  confederacy.  This  conspiracy 
had  for  its  object  the  seizure  of  the  capital  and  the  public 
property.  The  railways  being  destroyed,  troops  were  com- 
pelled to  go  around  Baltimore  by  sea.  In  spite  of  the  pro- 
tests of  Governor  Hicks,  General  B.  F.  Butler,  command- 
ing the  Massachusetts  regiments  and  the  Seventh  New 
York,  took  his  men  to  Annapolis,  the  capital  of  Mary 
land,  by  water,  and  thence  sent  them  to  the  defence  of 
Washington.  One  dark  and  stormy  night,  General  Butler 
marched  into  Baltimore,  seized  and  occupied  Federal  Hill, 
a  fortified  position  commanding  the  city.  The  rebels  were 
overawed.  Many  of  them  were  arrested  and  lodged  in 
jail ;  others  fled  into  the  confederacy.  The  conspiracy 
was  broken  up  and  thenceforward  Union  troops  went  un- 
molested through  Baltimore.  In  due  time,  the  loyal  ele- 
ments of  the  population  of  the  State  asserted  themselves, 
and  Maryland,  true  to  the  Union,  refused  to  pass  any  act 
of  hostility  to  the  government,  and  furnished  thousands 
of  troops,  subsequently,  for  the  defence  of  the  integrity 


286  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  the  republic.  During  the  war,  Governor  Hicks,  his 
term  of  office  having  expired,  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  there  served  his  country  faithfully 
until  his  death. 

Another  remarkable  event  that  marked  the  recogni- 
tion of  a  state  of  war  was  a  proclamation  issued  by 
President  Lincoln,  April  19,  1861,  declaring  the  ports  of 
Texas,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  South  Carolina  in  a  state  of  blockade  and  closed 
against  the  commerce  of  the  world.  A  week  later,  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina  having  been  swept  into  the 
whirlpool  of  secession  by  the  arts  of  the  rebel  leaders,  the 
ports  of  those  two  commonwealths  were  added  to  the  list 
of  blockaded  points  by  a  supplementary  proclamation  by 
the  President.  Another  call  for  troops  was  issued  by 
President  Lincoln,  May  3,  1861,  thirty-nine  regiments  of 
infantry  and  one  regiment  of  cavalry  being  asked  for  ;  and 
at  the  same  time  eighteen  thousand  volunteer  seamen  were 
called  for.  The  President  also  directed  a  considerable 
increase  of  the  regular  army,  bringing  the  maximum  effi- 
ciency of  the  force  up  to  22,714  men.  The  war  had  fairly 
begun.  The  seaports  of  the  States  that  had  passed  acts 
of  secession  were  closed  to  prevent  communication  with 
the  rest  of  the  world.  The  national  capital  was  occupied 
by  troops.  Ample  provision  was  made  for  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  republic. 

While  the  Virginia  convention  was  in  session,  that  body 
sent  a  delegation  to  wait  upon  President  Lincoln  to  ask 
him  what  policy  he  intended  to  pursue  towards  the  so- 


REPLY  TO  THE  VIRGINIA    CONVENTION.  287 

called  Confederate  States.  We  may  suppose  that,  as  the 
convention  was  intended  by  the  rebel  leaders  to  pass  an 
ordinance  of  secession  declaring  Virginia  out  of  the  Union, 
this  message  to  Lincoln  was  merely  a  pretext  for  such 
action.  Lincoln  gave  a  formal  and  written  reply  to  the 
request,  in  which,  after  expressing  his  surprise  and  regret 
that  he  had  not  already  been  sufficiently  understood,  he 
said  that  his  policy  had  been  outlined  very  fully  and 
clearly,  as  he  thought,  in  his  inaugural  address.  And  he 
added  :  "  As  I  then  and  therein  said,  the  power  confided 
in  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  property 
and  places  belonging  to  the  government  and  to  collect 
duties  and  imposts  ;  but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for 
these  objects,  there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force 
against  or  among  people  anywhere."  Furthermore,  he 
declared  that  it  was  his  purpose  to  repossess  Fort  Sumter 
and  all  other  places  seized  and  taken  from  the  govern- 
ment, and  he  would  meet  force  with  force,  so  far  as  that 
was  needed  to  accomplish  that  purpose.  In  consequence 
of  the  seizure  of  Fort  Sumter,  he  said,  it  might  be  found 
needful  to  withdraw  the  service  of  the  United  States 
mails  from  the  States  that  pretended  to  have  seceded 
from  the  Union.  He  closed  by  saying  that  he  would  not 
attempt  to  collect  the  revenues  by  armed  invasion  of  any 
part  of  the  country  ;  his  obvious  meaning  being  that 
force  would  only  be  used  to  recapture  military  posts 
seized  by  the  rebels. 

This  was  certainly  clear  enough  for  any  candid  person's 
understanding.     Lincoln's   policy,   again    and    again   de- 


288  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

clared,  was  to  defend  the  public  property.  If  force  was 
employed  to  seize  it,  he  must  use  force  to  retake  it  or  to 
defend  it  against  all  comers.  Up  to  that  time,  as  will  be 
noticed,  the  mails  had  been  carried  through  all  the  States 
under  the  direction  of  a  Postmaster-General  appointed  by 
President  Lincoln,  just  as  though  nothing  had  happened 
to  disturb  the  relations  existing  between  the  so-called 
Confederate  States  and  the  national  government.  Lin- 
coln clung  with  great  patience  to  the  notion,  entertained 
by  many,  that  the  rebellious  States  might  be  won  back 
to  their  allegiance,  and,  even  if  he  did  not  really  expect 
that  happy  issue  of  all  these  troubles,  he  was  determined 
to  do  nothing  that  should  make  it  difficult  or  impossible. 
The  rebel  leaders  were  burning  to  begin  an  aggressive 
war.  The  President  was  anxious  to  have  no  step  taken, 
under  authority  of  the  government,  that  should  have  the 
effect  of  provoking  war.  The  rebels  longed  for  an  excuse 
to  begin  fighting.  Lincoln  was  determined  to  do  nothing 
except  what  was  absolutely  necessary  to  maintain  the 
rights  and  dignities  of  the  United  States  Government. 

It  was  all  in  vain.  The  reply  of  Lincoln  to  the  Virginia 
delegates  fell  on  unheeding  ears.  By  a  vote  of  eighty- 
eight  to  fifty-five  that  State  "  went  out  of  the  Union,"  as 
the  current  phrase  was,  and  Virginia  was  made  thereafter 
the  main  battle-field  of  the  war.  Richmond,  the  capital 
of  the  State,  became  the  capital  of  the  confederacy,  the 
offices  of  that  organization  being  moved  from  Montgom- 
ery, Alabama,  to  the  city.  The  vote  was  taken  on  the 
1 7th  of  April,  and  the  confederate  capital  was  transferred 


DEATH  OF  ELMER  E.   ELLSWORTH.  289 

on  the  2 1st  of  the  following  month.  Meanwhile,  the 
rebels  had  seized  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  an  important 
strategic  point  on  the  border  of  the  State,  well  stocked 
with  arms  and  materials  for  their  manufacture ;  also 
Gosport  Navy  Yard,  near  Norfolk,  Virginia.  Both  of 
these  points  were  of  great  value  to  the  rebels.  The 
navy  yard  was  the  depot  of  stores  and  property — guns, 
ships,  ammunition,  and  various  naval  equipments — valued 
at  eight  or  ten  millions  of  dollars.  It  had  been  left  de- 
fenceless by  the  treachery  of  former  members  of  the 
national  government ;  additional  treachery  and  treason 
threw  it  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  With  Harper's 
Ferry,  its  arsenal  and  its  military  supplies,  and  the  Gos- 
port Navy  Yard  and  its  ships  and  naval  stores  in  their 
hands,  although  damaged  by  fire,  the  boastful  rebels  now 
believed  themselves  invincible.  They  promised  to  hoist 
their  flag  on  the  Capitol  at  Washington ;  "  perhaps  on 
Faneuil  Hall,  in  Boston,"  said  some  of  the  more  sanguine 
of  the  leaders. 

Early  in  this  momentous  summer  of  1861,  there  oc- 
curred two  deaths  that  came  very  near  to  Lincoln. 
Among  those  who  had  accompanied  the  President-elect 
on  his  journey  from  Illinois  to  the  national  capital  was 
Elmer  E.  Ellsworth,  a  young  man  who  had  been  employed 
in  the  law  office  of  Lincoln  &  Herndon,  Springfield.  He 
was  a  brave,  handsome,  and  impetuous  youth,  and  was 
among  the  first  to  offer  his  services  to  the  President  in 
defence  of  the  Union,  as  soon  as  the  mutterings  of  war 
were  heard.  Before  the  war,  he  had  organized  a  company 


2QO  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  zouaves  from  the  Chicago  firemen,  and  had  delighted 
and  astonished  many  people  by  the  exhibitions  of  their 
skill  in  the  evolutions  through  which  they  were  put  while 
visiting  some  of  the  chief  cities  of  the  republic.  Now, 
being  commissioned  a  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  army,  he  went  to  New  York  and  organized  a  simi- 
lar regiment,  known  as  the  Eleventh  New  York,  from  the 
firemen  of  that  city.  Colonel  Ellsworth's  Zouaves,  on  the 
evening  of  May  23d,  were  sent  with  a  considerable  force 
to  occupy  the  heights  overlooking  Washington  and  Alex- 
andria, on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  opposite  the  national 
capital.  Next  day,  seeing  a  rebel  flag  flying  from  the 
Marshall  House,  a  tavern  in  Alexandria,  kept  by  a  seces- 
sionist, he  went  up  through  the  building  to  the  roof  and 
pulled  it  down.  While  on  his  way  down  the  stairs,  with 
the  flag  in  his  arms,  he  was  met  by  the  tavern-keeper,  who 
shot  and  killed  him  instantly.  Ellsworth  fell,  dyeing  the 
rebel  flag  with  the  blood  that  gushed  from  his  heart. 
The  tavern-keeper  was  instantly  killed  by  a  shot  from 
private  Brownell,  of  the  Ellsworth  Zouaves,  who  was  at 
hand  when  his  commander  fell.  The  death  of  Ellsworth, 
needless  though  it  may  have  been,  caused  a  profound  sen- 
sation throughout  the  country,  where  he-was  well  known. 
He  was  among  the  very  first  martyrs  of  the  war,  as  he 
had  been  one  of  the  first  volunteers.  Lincoln  was  over- 
whelmed with  sorrow.  He  had  the  body  of  the  lamented 
young  officer  taken  to  the  White  House,  where  it  lay  in 
state  until  the  burial  took  place,  and,  even  in  the  midst 
of  his  increasing  cares,  he  found  time  to  sit  alone  and  in 


DEATH  OF  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.  2$t 

grief-stricken  meditation  by  the  bier  of  the  dead  young 
soldier  of  whose  career  he  had  cherished  so  great  hopes. 
The  life-blood  from  Ellsworth's  heart  had  stained  not  only 
the  rebel  flag,  but  a  gold  medal  found  under  his  uniform, 
bearing  the  legend  "  Non  solum  nobis,  sed  pro  patria  ": 
"  Not  for  ourselves  alone,  but  for  the  country.". 

On  the  third  of  June,  died  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas, 
after  a  few  days  of  illness.  On  the  fourteenth  of  April, 
in  company  with  a  friend,  he  had  called  upon  Lincoln  at 
the  White  House,  to  offer  his  sympathy  and  advice.  The 
country  was  ablaze  with  excitement.  Fort  Sumter  had  been 
fired  on,  and,  even  as  these  two  eminent  men  sat  together 
in  council — Lincoln  and  Douglas,  former  foes  in  politics 
now  united  in  a  common  purpose — the  tramp  of  armed 
men,  on  the  way  to  the  front,  was  beginning  to  be  heard. 
Douglas  warmly,  and  even  affectionately,  commended 
the  course  pursued  by  Lincoln  up  to  that  time,  although 
he  said  he  would  have  called  for  two  hundred  thousand 
men  instead  of  seventy-five  thousand,  if  he  were  in  the 
President's  place.  Warmed  by  his  unmistakable  devotion 
to  his  country,  Douglas  enlarged  upon  the  theme  and 
gave  Lincoln  many  suggestions  of  practical  value.  After 
the  interview  had  closed  and  Douglas  had  departed,  the 
gentlemen  with  him  asked  that  the  details  of  the  notable 
meeting  be  sketched  in  the  form  of  a  despatch  and  given 
to  the  country,  in  the  belief  that  the  loyal  sentiment  would 
be  thereby  strengthened.  This  was  done,  and  the  de- 
spatch, having  been  read  and  approved  by  Douglas,  was 
transmitted  through  the  Associated  Press  Agency  at  Wash- 


292  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ington,  with  precisely  the  effect  upon  the  people  that  was 
expected  of  it.  During  the  following  month,  Douglas 
addressed  large  meetings  of  Union  men  in  Ohio  and  Illi- 
nois, urging  such  measures  as  would  strengthen  the  hands 
of  those  who  were  carrying  on  the  government  of  the 
republic.  Towards  the  later  part  of  May  he  sickened, 
and  died,  as  before  said,  June  3d,  greatly  lamented  by  his 
fellow-countrymen,  among  whom  the  sad-hearted  Lincoln 
mourned  with  a  great  and  exceeding  sorrow. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

BEGINNING   OF   THE   GREAT    STRUGGLE. 

The  Combatants  Face  to  Face— The  First  Battle  of  Bull  Run— The  Sting 
of  Defeat— George  B.  McClellan — Effect  of  the  Great  Disaster — A 
Message  to  Congress — Men  and  Money  Voted — How  Foreign  Nations 
Regarded  the  Struggle — Seizure  and  Release  of  Mason  and  Slidell. 

AT  last,  then,  freedom  and  union,  for  which  Lincoln 
had  so  long  and  so  zealously  contended,  stood  to 
defend  itself  against  slavery  and  disunion.  The  arena 
was  transferred  from  the  West  to  the  wider  plane  of 
the  republic.  Jefferson  Davis,  a  man  of  high  culture, 
educated  at  the  Military  Academy  of  the  United  States, 
familiar  with  high  politics  and  conversant  with  persons 
of  social  dignity,  himself  an  aristocrat,  was  now  pitted 
against  the  man  who  had  been  born  in  the  obscurity 
of  the  American  backwoods,  reared  in  a  life  of  pov- 
erty and  privation,  educated  by  dint  of  hard  struggles 
and  under  unfriendly  circumstances,  and  coming  late  into 
the  possession  of  those  advantages,  social  and  mental, 
which  are  denied  to  the  children  of  adversity.  Davis  and 
his  followers  had  set  up  the  plea  that  a  State  was  sover- 
eign, that  the  Union  was  subject  to  the  State,  and  that 
the  rights  of  any  single  State  were  paramount  to  all  others 

293 


2Q4  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

that  could  be  considered  by  the  citizens  thereof.  Lin- 
coln, on  the  other  hand,  had  always  insisted  that  the 
nation,  composed  of  the  people  of  the  several  States,  was 
the  paramount  authority.  He  held  that  no  State  could 
leave  the  Union  and,  by  so  leaving,  break  it  up  and  dis- 
solve the  bond,  without  being  committed  thereby  to  an 
act  of  treason.  One  of  his  familiar  illustrations  of  this 
his  position  was  that  as  a  county,  a  political  subdivision 
of  a  State,  could  not  lawfully  leave  that  State,  so  an  indi- 
vidual State  could  not  lawfully  leave  the  republic  of 
States,  thereby  coercing  a  dissolution  of  that  republic. 
What  Davis  would  have  done,  if,  after  the  so-called  con- 
federacy had  been  established,  some  one  State  should 
have  seceded  from  it,  was  never  clearly  understood.  This 
advocate  of  State  rights  never  had  a  good  opportunity  of 
showing  how  he  would  have  wrestled  with  that  problem. 
When  these  two  hostile  camps,  freedom  and  slavery, 
were  pitched  against  each  other,  in  the  summer  of  1861, 
the  population  of  the  States  in  rebellion  was  9,103,333,  of 
which  more  than  one  third  were  slaves.  The  population 
of  the  loyal  and  free  States  was  22,046,472.  This  disparity 
in  the  number  liable  to  be  drawn  into  battle  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  rebel  leaders,  and  it  excited  the  alarm  of 
some  of  those  who  were  likely  to  be  called  on  to  fight  for 
the  confederacy.  These  timorous  persons  were  cheered 
by  the  common  remark  that  one  Southern  man  was  equal 
to  at  least  five  "  Yankees  "  of  the  North,  a  saying  that 
undoubtedly  helped  many  young  and  inexperienced 
recruits  to  bear  the  early  burdens  of  the  civil  war,  as  the 


"CONTRABAND   OF  WAR."  295 

rebel  army  was  formed.  When  some  of  these,  later  on, 
were  captured  and  taken  North,  they  saw  with  amaze- 
ment the  crowds  that  filled  the  large  cities,  just  as  though 
other  thousands  of  men  were  not  absent  fighting  the 
battles  of  the  Union.  They  felt  and  said  that  they  had 
been  imposed  upon,  and  that  the  number  of  men  of  the  loyal 
States,  fit  for  duty,  was  so  enormously  greater  than  that 
of  the  South  that  their  cause  was  hopeless  from  the  first. 
The  slaves  of  the  South  were  thought  by  the  people  of 
that  region  to  be  an  element  of  strength.  The  slave- 
holders relied  on  the  faithful  attachment  of  these  unfortu- 
nate creatures,  a  reliance  that  was  seldom  misplaced.  The 
slaves  had  once  been  taught  that  the  "  Abolitionists " 
were  a  species  of  monsters  that  infested  the  North  and 
devoured  escaped  black  people.  And,  so  long  as  they 
had  food  and  protection  from  their  masters,  the  bondmen 
did  not  leave  their  masters,  even  when  the  war  began. 
They  were  useful  in  making  preparations  for  battles, 
marches,  and  sieges.  They  were  teamsters,  workmen  on 
forts,  and  diggers  of  intrenchments.  In  the  eyes  of  all 
the  people,  North  and  South,  the  slaves  were  still  prop- 
erty. And  it  was  the  custom  of  most  officers  of  the 
United  States  army  to  give  up  the  few  fugitive  negroes 
that  came  into  their  lines.  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler,  however, 
while  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia,  perceived 
that  the  slaves  were  used  by  the  rebels  precisely  as  horses 
or  mules  would  have  been ;  they  were  employed  in 
promoting  the  efficiency  of  the  rebel  military  works. 
Accordingly,  when  slaves  came  into  his  lines,  he  refused 


296  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

to  give  them  up,  declaring  that,  like  war  material,  they 
were  "  contraband  of  war."  This  was  a  new  idea,  and 
from  that  time  the  African  slave  inside  of  the  Union 
lines  was  known  as  a  contraband.  The  word  not  only 
gave  a  new  name  to  the  escaping  slave,  but  it  suggested  a 
line  of  policy  that  afterwards  troubled  greatly  the  warlike 
slave-holders  and  the  rebel  leaders.  They  had  no  longer 
any  power  to  enforce  the  law  concerning  fugitive  slaves, 
about  which  they  had  once  been  much  concerned. 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run,  begun  on  the  nineteenth  of  July 
and  ended  on  the  twenty-first,  was  a  great  defeat  to  the 
Union  forces,  although  the  losses  on  each  side  were  not 
far  from  equal.  But  it  was  the  first  real  advance  of  the 
army  of  the  Potomac,  which  had  been  accumulating  on 
the  soil  of  Virginia  and  around  Washington.  Both  sides 
had  been  making  large  and  hurried  preparations  for  this 
fight,  and  the  newspapers  of  the  North  had  been  clamor- 
ous for  an  advance  upon  the  rebel  capital  by  the  Union 
troops.  The  rebels  had  been  more  and  more  defiant,  con- 
fident, and  threatening.  They  had  withdrawn  their  forces 
from  Harper's  Ferry,  taking  with  them  what  war  material 
had  been  spared  by  the  flames,  and  were  now  concentrat- 
ing for  an  attack  on  the  federal  capital,  or,  as  they  ex- 
pressed it,  to  repel  the  invader.  The  first  call  of  troops 
issued  by  Lincoln  was  for  men  to  serve*  for  three  months, 
and  the  time  of  some  of  these  was  now  about  to  expire. 
The  first  flush  of  their  military  enthusiasm  had  passed. 
They  were  still  raw  and  undisciplined.  Indeed,  so  far  as 
the  rank  and  file  were  concerned,  they  knew  nothing 


FACE  TO  FACE.  297 

whatever  of  the  stern  realities  of  war,  and  they  were  im- 
patient of  military  discipline.  Many  of  the  officers  were 
lately  from  civil  life  and  were  unfamiliar  with  their  duties. 
And  the  people  at  home,  equally  inexperienced,  but  more 
impatient,  demanded  that  the  army  should  do  something 
to  justify  its  existence  and  its  cost. 

Lincoln  viewed  the  situation  with  great  anxiety.  He 
knew  that  the  army,  portentous  as  it  appeared,  was  not 
in  a  condition  to  risk  a  great  battle  ;  and  yet  it  might  be 
attacked  any  day.  He  was  excessively  desirous  of  meet- 
ing the  expectations  of  the  people,  without  whose  hearty 
cooperation  no  forces  could  be  maintained.  The  Union 
troops  held  Fortress  Monroe  and  the  region  round  about, 
a  defeat  at  Big  Bethel,  which  happened  on  the  tenth  of 
June,  having  been  incurred  while  the  troops  at  that  point 
were  endeavoring  to  extend  our  lines.  They  also  guarded 
Baltimore  and  its  approaches,  and  were  driving  the  rebels 
from  the  western  part  of  Virginia,  under  Gen.  Geo.  B. 
McClellan,  a  very  capable  young  officer  of  the  regular 
army.  It  seemed  imperatively  needful,  whatever  were 
the  objections  and  the  dangers,  that  an  advance  should 
be  made  in  Virginia. 

On  the  other  side,  there  was  much  boasting  and 
confidence.  Although  the  rank  and  file  of  the  rebel 
army  were  as  raw  and  untrained  as  ours,  they  were 
officered  by  men  who  had  been  professionally  educated  to 
the  military  service,  among  them  being  Generals  John- 
ston, Beauregard,  Stonewall  Jackson,  Longstreet,  Kirby 
Smith,  Ewell,  Jubal  Early,  Lee,  Holmes,  Evans,  Elzey, 


298  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

Jordan,  and  others  of  less  note.  They  were  commanded 
by  Gen.  Beauregard,  who  was  subsequently  joined  by 
Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  The  two  commands  thus  con- 
solidated numbered  18,000  of  the  rank  and  file,  with  forty- 
four  guns.  The  Union  forces  were  commanded  by  Gen. 
Irvin  McDowell,  and  numbered  17,676  of  the  rank  and 
file,  with  twenty-four  guns.  Gen.  Patterson,  in  command 
of  a  contingent  of  Union  forces,  was  expected  to  hold  in 
check  the  troops  under  Johnston,  who  was  at  Winchester, 
on  the  left  of  the  rebel  line,  their  right  being  at  Manassas, 
under  Beauregard.  At  first,  the  attack  of  the  Union 
forces  was  successful,  but  the  tide  turned  in  favor  of  the 
rebels.  The  arrangements  for  the  supplying  of  McDow- 
ell's men  were  imperfect ;  Patterson  did  not  hold  John- 
ston in  check,  and  the  first  weakening  of  the  Union  lines 
became  a  rout.  The  troops  broke  and  fled  in  the  wildest 
confusion,  some  of  them  abandoning  their  arms  in  their 
flight,  but  many  marching  off  the  field  in  good  order.  In 
a  few  hours,  the  great  army  upon  which  Lincoln  had 
rested  so  many  hopes,  and  of  which  the  people  expected 
such  great  things,  was  pouring  into  Washington  over  the 
bridges  of  the  Potomac  and  filling  the  capital  with  most 
exaggerated  and  alarming  stories  of  defeat.  Many  civil- 
ians, members  of  Congress,  and  visitors,  had  gone  out  to 
see  the  fight.  These,  in  their  reckless  haste  to  reach  a 
place  of  safety,  added  to  the  panic  and  confusion.  An 
overturned  carriage  in  the  way  caused  a  block  of  the 
retreat  on  that  line,  and  terror,  almost  ludicrous,  seized 
upon  the  fugitives.  But  the  rebels,  not  knowing  their 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE   OF  BULL  RUN.  299 

own  advantage,  did  not  pursue,  and  Washington,  then  at 
their  mercy,  was  left  unattacked.  The  panic  on  the 
Union  side  of  the  lines  was  no  stranger  than  the  igno- 
rance that  prevailed  on  the  other. 

The  rebels,  complete  though  their  means  of  securing 
information  was  supposed  to  be,  believed  that  they  were 
opposed  by  at  least  50,000  men,  as  reports  of  their  com- 
manding generals  subsequently  showed.  The  Union  loss 
in  this  memorable  defeat  was  460  killed,  1,124  wounded, 
and  1,312  captured  or  missing,  being  a  total  of  2,896.  The 
rebel  loss  in  killed  was  387,  in  wounded  1,582,  and  thirteen 
captured  or  missing,  being  a  total  of  1,982.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  return  of  "  captured  or  missing,"  comparing 
the  Union  and  the  rebel  figures,  is  suggestive.  It  was 
facetiously  said  that  some  of  the  Union  soldiers  were  so 
"demoralized  "  that  they  never  ceased  running  until  they 
reached  their  own  homes.  Certain  it  is  that  more  than 
one  regiment  whose  time  was  out,  shouldered  arms  and 
marched  off  the  field  before  the  fight  was  fairly  begun. 

The  effect  of  the  disaster  upon  the  loyal  people  was  not 
unlike  that  of  the  firing  of  the  first  gun  on  Sumter.  It  is 
difficult  to  determine  whether  wrath,  or  mortification, 
was  the  more  prominent  throughout  the  North,  at  this 
time.  It  was  mortifying  to  the  national  pride  that  the 
first  considerable  battle  had  gone  against  the  defenders  of 
the  Union ;  but  the  very  danger  of  the  situation  only  in- 
spired the  loyal  people  to  renewed  activity.  The  rush  of 
volunteers  was  unprecedented.  Popular  indignation  some- 
what recklessly  expended  itself  on  the  alleged  incompe- 


3OO  THE   LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

tence  of  military  commanders  and  advisers,  as  well  as  on 
the  rebels.  Some  of  those  who  had  clamored  for  an 
advance  forgot  that  they  had  incited  what  was  now 
thought  to  be  a  premature  and  ill-advised  movement, 
and  insisted  that  the  blame  lay  with  those  who  had  con- 
ducted the  ill-starred  advance  upon  the  rebel  lines.  But 
public  opinion,  although  fickle  and  unjust  towards  some  of 
the  able  and  devoted  military  men  engaged  in  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  did  not  slacken  in  the  direction  of  the  real 
defence  of  the  Union.  The  disaster  dismayed  for  a  time 
the  people,  and  it  greatly  encouraged  the  rebels  and  their 
sympathizers  in  the  North  ;  but  more  troops  and  more 
military  material  were  eagerly  furnished,  and  the  tide  of 
determined  patriotism  rose  even  higher  than  ever  before. 
Upon  Lincoln  the  effect  of  the  Bull  Run  defeat  was 
most  depressing.  It  was  well  for  him  that  he  had  an 
unshakable  faith  in  the  sturdy  patriotism  and  the  hearty 
support  of  the  people.  Even  in  the  midst  of  his  sorrows, 
he  felt  that  the  nation  would  rally,  as  it  subsequently  did, 
to  the  defence  of  the  national  integrity.  He  lamented 
with  a  bitterness  that  none  but  those  who  knew  his  gentle 
and  kind  heart  could  understand,  the  needless  sacrifice  of 
human  life  ;  for,  unaccustomed  as  the  people  then  were 
to  war  and  its  deadliness,  the  list  of  killed  at  Bull  Run 
seemed  most  dreadful  and  gory.  But,  most  of  all,  he 
feared  the  effect  of  this  their  first  success  upon  the  minds 
of  the  rebels  of  the  South.  He  was  hoping,  always  hop- 
ing, that  the  Southern  people  might  yet  see  the  error  of 
their  ways  and  return  to  the  fold  of  the  Union.  Their 


ORGANIZATION  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA.  301 

elation  over  the  defeat  of  the  federal  troops,  he  knew, 
put  further  off  than  ever  all  prospect  of  this  greatly- 
desired  object  of  his  prayers.  But  even  then,  doubtless, 
there  were  some  among  the  friends  and  advisers  of  Lincoln 
who  thought  they  saw  in  this  defeat  some  grains  of  con- 
solation. If  the  war  were  to  be  ended  then  and  there, 
slavery  would  be  saved  alive ;  a  long  war  would  certainly 
kill  the  curbed  institution  that  had  caused  the  war. 

One  or  two  naval  and  military  expeditions  were  fitted 
out  at  once.  Fort  Hatteras,  on  the  coast  of  North  Caro- 
lina, was  captured  from  the  rebels  by  one  of  these,  and 
later,  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  was  surrendered  to  the 
Union  forces.  In  the  meanwhile,  Gen.  McClellan  had 
driven  the  rebels  out  of  that  part  of  the  State  of  Virginia 
that  lies  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  the  inhabitants, 
most  of  whom  had  been  loyal  to  the  Union,  repudiated 
the  ordinance  of  secession  that  had  been  passed  by  the 
Richmond  convention,  and  organized  a  new  and  inde- 
pendent State,  to  be  known  as  West  Virginia,  of  which 
Mr.  Francis  H.  Pierpont  was  the  first  provisional  governor. 
Subsequently  Congress  ratified  the  act  of  separation 
"  as  a  war  measure,"  and  West  Virginia  has  remained  an 
independent  State  unto  this  day. 

Congress  was  in  session  when  the  battle  of  Bull  Run 
was  fought,  having  as  before  said,  been  called  together  on 
the  fourth  of  July.  By  this  time,  the  country  had  become 
somewhat  accustomed  to  the  idea  that  civil  war  was  neces- 
sary to  preserve  the  Union.  The  result  justified  Lincoln's 
wise  patience.  He  had  been  expected  by  many  impetu- 


302  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ous  persons  to  call  Congress  together  as  soon  as  Sumter 
was  fired  upon.  He  had  waited  for  further  developments, 
although  he  was  besought  by  some  of  his  immediate 
friends  to  convene  Congress  at  once.  His  message  to 
Congress  was  a  calm  and  almost  colorless  history  of  the 
struggle,  up  to  that  date.  After  reciting  the  events  that 
had  taken  place,  he  declared  that  the  rebels  had  forced 
the  issue  of  war  or  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  that 
this  issue 

"  embraced  more  than  the  fate  of  these  United  States.  It 
presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question  whether  a 
constitutional  republic  or  democracy — a  government  of  the 
people  by  the  same  people — can  or  cannot  maintain  its  terri- 
torial integrity,  against  its  own  domestic  foes.  It  presents  the 
question  whether  discontented  individuals,  too  few  in  numbers 
to  control  administration  according  to  organic  law  in  any 
case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretences  made  in  this  case,  or  on 
any  other  pretences,  or  arbitrarily,  without  any  pretence,  break 
up  their  government,  and  thus  practically  put  an  end  to  free 
government  upon  the  earth.  It  forces  us  to  ask,  '  Is  there  in 
all  republics  this  inherent  and  fatal  weakness  ? '  '  Must  a  gov- 
ernment, of  necessity,  be  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  own 
people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own  existence  ? ' ' 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  message,  as  shown  by  the 
above  extract,  Lincoln  was  only  enforcing  here  just 
such  ideas  of  self-government  as,  during  all  his  life,  he 
had  been  so  clearly  expounding  to  the  people ;  and  here, 
too,  will  be  seen  the  germ  of  the  famous  speech  that  he 
pronounced  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg,  years  after,  when 
the  war  was  nearly  over.  Alluding  to  the  attempt  of 
some  of  the  border  States,  notably  Kentucky,  to  main- 


MESSAGE  TO   CONGRESS.  303 

tain  a  system  of  neutrality,  Lincoln  employed  once  again 
a  figure  familiar  to  those  who  have  followed  his  course  of 
thought.  He  said  that  the  notion  that  these  border 
States  could  maintain  a  neutral  ground  over  which  no 
armies,  federal  or  rebel,  should  be  allowed  to  pass,  was 
not  to  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  This  would  be 

"  building  an  impassable  wall  along  the  line  of  separation,  and 
yet  not  quite  an  impassable  one,  for,  under  the  guise  of  neu- 
trality, it  would  tie  the  hands  of  Union  men,  and  freely  pass 
supplies  from  among  them  to  the  insurrectionists,  which  it 
could  not  do  to  an  open  enemy.  At  a  stroke,  it  would  take 
all  the  trouble  off  the  hands  of  secession,  except  only  what 
proceeds  from  external  blockade." 

This  message  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  country, 
especially  that  part  which  may  be  considered  as  an  answer 
to  the  artful  and  insidious  plea  made  in  the  message  of 
Jefferson  Davis,  president  of  the  so-called  Confederate 
States.  Davis  had  argued  that  the  right  of  secession  was 
a  right  for  which  American  citizens,  as  defenders  of  pop- 
ular liberty,  were  bound  to  fight,  if  necessary.  Lincoln 
said,  in  the  message  from  which  we  have  been  quoting, 
that  it  was  a  sophism,  false  reasoning,  to  say  that  a  State 
may  peaceably  get  out  of  the  Union  of  the  States,  pre- 
tending that  this  getting  out  was  constitutional  and  right. 

"  The  sophism,"  he  said,  "  is  that  any  State  of  the  Union  may, 
consistently  with  the  National  Constitution,  and  therefore  law- 
fully and  peacefully,  withdraw  from  the  Union  without  consent 
of  the  Union,  or  any  other  State.  The  little  disguise,  that  the 
supposed  right  is  to  be  exercised  only  for  just  cause,  themselves 
to  be  the  judges  of  its  justice,  is  too  thin  to  merit  any  notice. 


304  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

With  rebellion  thus  sugar-coated  they  have  been  drugging  the 
public  mind  of  their  section  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and 
until  at  length  they  have  brought  many  good  men  to  a  willing- 
ness to  take  up  arms  against  the  government  the  day  after 
some  assemblage  of  men  has  enacted  the  farcical  pretence  of 
taking  their  State  out  of  the  Union,  who  would  have,  could 
have,  been  brought  to  no  such  thing  the  day  before." 

Nothing  could  be  more  clear  than  the  terms  and  illus- 
trations which  Lincoln  employed  in  this  message.  In  the 
sentence  just  quoted,  the  phrase  "  sugar-coated  "  appears. 
When  this  caught  the  eye  of  the  Public  Printer,  Mr. 
Defrees,  who  had  confidential  relations  with  the  Presi- 
dent, he  ventured  to  say,  in  answer  to  Lincoln's  question, 
"  how  he  liked  the  message,"  that  the  phrase  was  hardly 
dignified.  "  Well,  Defrees,"  said  the  President,  with 
great  good-nature,  "  if  you  think  the  time  will  ever  come 
when  the  people  will  not  understand  what  '  sugar-coated ' 
means,  I  '11  alter  it  ;  otherwise,  I  think  I  will  let  it  go." 
The  phrase  was  allowed  to  stand,  and  thus  it  went  to 
Congress  and  to  the  world. 

Congress  responded  very  readily  and  liberally  to  the 
requests  of  the  President  for  men  and  money.  He  asked 
for  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  and  four  hundred 
thousand  men.  Congress  appropriated  five  hundred  mill- 
ion dollars,  and  authorized  him  to  call  half  a  million  of 
troops.  The  nation  was  now  .very  much  in  earnest,  and 
had  settled  to  the  belief  that  the  war  would  be  a  long 
one.  Recruiting  went  on  very  briskly,  and  the  country 
was  alive  with  the  sounds  of  preparation.  In  every  village 
and  hamlet  in  the  Northern  States  there  were  organized 


THE   CONFEDERACY  RECOGNIZED.  305 

societies  to  help  on  the  good  cause.  For  a  time,  at  least, 
it  seemed  as  if  the  people,  men  and  women,  had  laid 
aside  their  usual  amusements  and  employments  and  had 
devoted  themselves  exclusively  to  the  business  of  helping 
to  put  down  the  rebellion.  The  most  popular  song  at 
that  time  was  that  which  had  for  its  refrain — 

"  We  're  coming,  Father  Abraham, 
Six  hundred  thousand  strong." 

It  was  a  matter  of  great  concern  to  both  of  the  com- 
batants, North  and  South,  that  the  issue  between  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  that  of  the  rebel 
confederacy  should  be  considered  by  foreign  nations  in  a 
way  favorable  to  either  one  or  the  other.  The  national 
government  had  declared  a  blockade  of  all  the  Southern 
ports.  The  rebels  had  no  navy ;  but  the  national  govern- 
ment did  have  a  small  naval  force,  and  it  was  daily  growing 
larger.  Would  other  nations  recognize  that  such  a  block- 
ade existed  ?  Or  would  they  disregard  it  and  sail  their 
ships  into  the  closed  ports  just  as  if  there  were  no  block- 
ade ?  If  the  rebel  confederacy  were  recognized  as  a 
nation,  the  United  States  government  would  be  compelled 
to  prove,  by  a  strong  navy  and  with  an  actual  closing  of 
the  ports,  that  the  blockade  was  effectual.  Otherwise, 
the  powers  that  recognized  the  so-called  Confederate 
States  would  send  their  vessels  into  those  ports,  supplying 
the  rebels  with  all  they  needed.  President  Lincoln,  very 
early  in  the  beginning  of  the  conflict,  showed  his  anxiety 
on  this  point.  But  soon,  almost  as  soon  as  hostilities 
began,  the  governments  of  England  and  France  recog- 


306  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

nized  the  rebel  government  as  a  belligerent  power,  with 
the  same  rights  on  sea  and  land  that  it  would  have  had  if 
it  were  an  independent  nation.  This  was  a  severe  blow  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States  and  to  the  Admin- 
istration. 

While  the  country,  North  and  South,  was  discussing 
what  was  sometimes  called  "  the  paper  blockade,"  the 
rebel  government  sent  to  Europe,  as  envoys,  James  M. 
Mason  and  John  Slidell.  These  men  had  been  members 
of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  had  left  Washington  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war  to  take  sides  with  their  States. 
By  the  rebel  government  Mason  was  sent  to  England  and 
Slidell  to  France,  to  induce,  if  possible,  those  great  powers 
to  recognize  the  confederacy  as  a  nation.  First  sailing 
for  Cuba,  the  two  envoys  took  passage  on  the  British 
packet-ship  Trent  for  St.  Thomas,  a  British  port,  intend- 
ing to  sail  thence  for  England.  This  was  on  the  /th  of 
November,  1861.  On  the  following  day,  the  Trent  was 
overhauled  by  the  United  States  man-of-war  San  Jacinto, 
Captain  Wilkes,  who,  having  fired  a  shot  across  the  bows 
of  the  Trent  to  bring  her  to,  sent  a  boat  alongside  and 
took  off  the  two  envoys  and  their  secretaries  and  carried 
them  to  Boston,  where  they  were  lodged  in  Fort  Warren. 

This  event  created  great  excitement  and  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  country.  The  action  of  the  English  and 
French  governments  had  aroused  the  wrath  of  the  people, 
and  the  capture  was  regarded  by  many  as  a  threatening 
answer  to  those  governments.  The  people  everywhere 
were  filled  with  animated  joy  over  the  capture  of  the  rebel 


SEIZURE   OF  MASON  AND   SLIDELL.  307 

envoys.  The  demand  of  the  British  government  that  the 
envoys,  having  been  taken  from  under  the  British  flag, 
and  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  commander  of  the 
Trent,  should  be  surrendered,  only  inflamed  the  popular 
indignation.  "  They  shall  never  be  given  up  !  "  was  the 
cry  everywhere.  The  rebels,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
overjoyed  at  the  turn  that  affairs  had  taken.  They  said 
that  there  would  now  be  war  between  England  and  the 
United  States,  and,  in  the  commotion,  their  confederacy 
would  secure  independence.  In  England,  very  few  men, 
apparently,  sympathized  with  the  United  States  in  its 
struggle  to  preserve  the  Union,  and  the  seizure  of  Mason 
and  Slidell  was  regarded  as  a  menace,  an  insult.  The 
London  newspapers  declared  that  the  war  would  now  be 
terrible  ;  the  power  of  England  would  be  with  the  South, 
and  the  result  would  be  the  eternal  division  of  the  States, 
North  and  South. 

None  of  these  things  seemed  to  move  the  people  of  the 
loyal  States.  They  were  determined  that  the  envoys 
should  never  be  surrendered.  Congress  passed  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  Captain  Wilkes.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Mr.  Gideon  Welles,  wrote  him  a  letter  congratulating  him 
on  "  the  great  public  service  "  he  had  rendered  to  the 
country,  and  Mr.  Stanton,  who  afterwards  replaced  Mr. 
Cameron  as  Secretary  of  War,  cordially  approved  of  the 
capture  of  the  rebel  emissaries.  Secretary  Seward  was 
also  opposed  to  making  any  concession  to  the  demands  of 
the  British  government. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  excitement  and  debate,  Lincoln 


308  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

remained  thoughtful,  anxious,  determined.  From  the 
first  he  was  doubtful  of  the  lawfulness  of  the  seizure. 
And,  as  he  examined  the  case  and  studied  its  bearings, 
he  became  convinced  that  the  emissaries  must  be  given 
up.  Now  that  the  world  has  seen  and  acknowledged  the 
justice  as  well  as  the  wisdom  of  Lincoln's  position,  we 
may  well  admire  the  courage  and  the  sagacity  with  which 
he  stood  out  for  what  was  then  regarded  as  a  cowardly 
and  ill-advised  action.  He  was  firm  in  the  face  of  popular 
clamor  and  popular  rage.  And  it  is  difficult  for  those  who 
did  not  feel  the  influence  of  those  exciting  times  to  realize 
how  easy  it  would  have  been  to  swim  with  the  tide  and 
rush  into  a  war  with  England,  as  our  people  were  then 
bent  on  doing.  Said  Lincoln :  "  Once  we  fought  Great 
Britain  for  doing  just  what  Captain  Wilkes  has  done.  If 
Great  Britain  protests  against  this  act  and  demands  their 
release,  we  must  adhere  to  our  principles  of  1812.  We 
must  give  up  these  prisoners.  Besides,  one  war  at  a  time." 
This  declaration  from  Lincoln  filled  the  country  with 
dismay.  Give  up  the  rebel  emissaries  ?  The  thought  was 
madness.  If  the  proposition  had  come  from  any  man 
but  Abraham  Lincoln,  it  would  have  been  laughed  down, 
overwhelmed  with  popular  derision,  no  matter  what  was 
the  official  function  of  the  man  who  made  it.  As  it  was, 
not  a  few  of  the  more  radical  and  violent  politicians  were 
greatly  incensed  against  the  President.  Thus  John  P. 
Hale,  as  Senator  from  New  Hampshire,  said  :  "  If  this 
Administration  will  not  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  people, 
they  will  find  themselves  engulfed  in  a  fire  that  will  con- 


StftiXENDEX   OF  THE  ENVOYS.  309 

sume  them  like  stubble  ;  they  will  be  helpless  before  a 
power  that  will  hurl  them  from  their  places."  Neverthe- 
less, Lincoln  remained  firm.  The  envoys  must  be  surren- 
dered. Lincoln  could  not  follow  the  dictates  of  passion 
or  prejudice  in  this  matter ;  and  it  required  a  lofty  regard 
for  what  was  right,  just,  and  expedient  for  him  to  rise 
above  the  commotions  of  the  hour  and  insist  that  the 
claim  of  Great  Britain  must  be  allowed  at  any  cost  of 
private  resentment.  Secretary  Seward  was  won  over  to 
Lincoln's  view  of  the  case,  and,  in  a  paper  of  singular 
ingenuity  and  skill,  he  gave  answer  to  the  demand  of  the 
British  government.  The  envoys  were  surrendered. 

Great  was  the  derision  of  the  rebels  over  this  act. 
Great  also  was  the  wrath  and  humiliation  of  most  of  the 
loyal  people  of  the  North.  The  rebel  government,  always 
hoping  for  full  recognition  and  assistance  from  foreign 
governments,  were  dismayed  and  angry  that  this  provoca- 
tion to  war  had  been  averted  by  Lincoln's  sagacity  and 
sense  of  justice.  They  heaped  upon  his  head  every  pos- 
sible epithet  to  denote  their  contempt  and  hatred.  And 
in  the  North,  it  must  be  admitted,  men  were  slow  in  arriv- 
ing at  the  rational  conclusion  that  Lincoln  had  done  the 
republic  a  service  invaluable.  His  enemies  and  critics 
were  clamorous  and  bitter.  But,  serene,  confident  of  the 
strength  of  the  position  he  had  taken  in  this  weighty 
affair,  Lincoln  remained  silent ;  he  waited  for  time  to 
vindicate  the  wisdom  of  his  course. 

During  all  those  years  of  darkness  and  trial,  the  attitude 
of  the  European  governments  was  most  unfriendly  tow- 


310  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ards  the  United  States.  Our  envoys  were,  however, 
instructed  to  assure  the  courts  to  which  they  were  sent, 
that  under  no  circumstances  would  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  consent  that  the  civil  war  should  be 
regarded  by  any  foreign  nation  as  other  than  a  domestic 
disturbance,  to  be  dealt  with  after  our  own  ideas  of  public 
policy,  and  to  be  ended  by  an  exercise  of  the  sovereign 
power  of  the  republic.  But  it  required  all  of  Lincoln's 
magnanimity,  all  his  wisdom,  all  his  influence  with  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  to  restrain  and  guide  public 
opinion  so  that  the  republic  should  not  be  hurried  into 
an  unnecessary  war.  Smarting  under  repeated  insults 
offered  to  the  American  name  and  flag  in  foreign  lands, 
Americans  everywhere  were  irritated  and  resentful  towards 
English  leaders  and  European  governments.  But  Lincoln 
never,  as  President,  allowed  his  resentments  to  influence 
his  public  policy.  As  the  man  Lincoln  had  been  patient 
under  great  provocation,  forgiving,  kind,  and  merciful, 
so  the  President  showed  in  his  high  office  the  same  noble 
qualities,  the  same  elevated  character. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION  ARISES. 

Fremont's  Troubles  in  Missouri — His  Policy  Disapproved  by  the  Presi- 
dent— Gen.  Hunter's  Proclamation  Revoked — Irritation  in  the  Border 
States — Lincoln  Invites  a  Conference — Arming  the  Freedmen  Pro- 
posed— Lincoln's  Letter  to  Horace  Greeley — The  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation Issued. 

NEW  trials  of  patience  and  sagacity  now  arose.  The 
irrepressible  slavery  question  came  to  the  surface 
and  would  not  be  long  disregarded.  Two  generals  of  the 
federal  army,  McClellan  and  Fremont,  took  views  on  this 
question  that  were  directly  opposed  to  each  other.  Lin- 
coln stood  between.  McClellan,  by  a  series  of  brilliant 
victories  in  West  Virginia,  and  by  his  short  and  pungent 
bulletins  announcing  the  same,  had  won  the  hearts  of  the 
people  and  had  inspired  the  popular  belief  that  he  was  the 
great  military  genius  that  was  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 
Fremont,  who  had  been  the  presidential  candidate  of  the 
Republicans  four  years  before  Lincoln's  election,  had 
hurried  home  from  Europe  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
rebellion,  and  had  thrown  himself  enthusiastically  into 
the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  Almost  on 
the  same  day  in  July,  1861,  Fremont  was  commissioned 

3" 


312  THE  LIFE  OF  LINCOLN. 

a  Major-General  and  McClellan  was  assigned  to  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  then  numbering  about  two 
hundred  thousand  men.  Fremont  was  assigned  to  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  West,  with  head-quarters 
at  St.  Louis.  Missouri  was  plunged  in  a  state  of  wild 
disorder.  Murders,  neighborhood  feuds,  assassinations, 
secret  crimes  of  various  degrees  of  turpitude,  and  outrages 
of  every  sort  were  common.  The  State  was  classed  as 
doubtful  for  the  Union,  being  overrun  with  secessionists, 
although  the  local  government  had  not  declared  for  separa- 
tion. It  was  time  that  something  vigorous  and  decisive 
in  character  should  be  done.  The  State  was  distressed 
with  all  the  horrors  of  bloody  feuds  and  guerilla  warfare. 

On  the  thirty-first  of  August,  Gen.  Fremont  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  Missouri  to  be  under  martial  law, 
defining  the  lines  of  the  army  of  occupation,  and  notifying 
the  people  that  all  persons  found  within  those  lines  with 
arms  in  their  hands,  unless  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  should  be  put  to  death.  Furthermore,  the  proc- 
lamation declared  that  the  property  of  all  persons  in  a 
state  of  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  would  be  seized  and  confiscated,  and  that  the 
slaves  of  such  persons  would  be  free  under  the  operation 
of  his  proclamation. 

These  declarations  fell  on  the  people  of  the  United 
States  with  astounding  effect.  They  were,  in  brief,  a 
proclamation  of  a  policy  of  confiscation  of  rebel  property 
and  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  rebels.  In  the  loyal 
States,  the  people  were  thrilled  with  the  thought  that  a 


FREMONT'S  PROCLAMATION.  313 

heavy  blow  had  been  struck  at  the  institution  of  slavery. 
The  rebels,  on  the  other  hand,  were  infuriated.  Up  to 
this  time,  no  sacrilegious  hand  had  been  laid  on  the  time- 
honored  right  of  property  in  slaves.  Here  was  a  procla- 
mation of  emancipation  from  a  general  of  the  army. 
For  a  space,  all  men  held  their  breath  and  waited.  What 
would  Lincoln  say  ? 

There  were  many  reasons  why  he  should  disapprove  of 
the  proclamation  of  a  policy  of  emancipation,  confisca- 
tion, and  "  no  quarter."  Congress  had  already  passed  a 
bill  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary  pur- 
poses ;  and  the  people  had  become  somewhat  used  to  the 
idea  that  slaves,  as  property,  employed  in  military  opera- 
tions, could  be  confiscated.  In  the  next  place,  Lincoln 
was  even  then  trying  to  soothe  the  angry  and  uneasy 
feelings  of  the  people  of  the  border  States  and  induce 
them  to  remain  loyal  to  the  Union,  and,  if  possible,  pre- 
pare the  way  for  a  gradual  emancipation.  The  sudden 
order  of  Fremont  would  be  sure  to  make  Lincoln's  task 
more  difficult.  And  the  notification  that  armed  men  in- 
side the  lines  of  the  army  of  occupation  would  be  shot 
would  certainly  provoke  reprisals  from  the  rebels.  In 
fact,  almost  as  soon  as  Fremont's  proclamation  was  issued, 
Jeff.  Thompson,  a  brigadier  commanding  rebel  forces  in 
Missouri,  put  forth  a  counter  proclamation  announcing 
that  for  every  soldier  of  the  State  guard,  or  of  the  con- 
federate army,  so  executed,  he  would  "  hang,  draw,  and 
quarter  a  minion  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  thereby  meaning 
any  person  who  remained  true  to  the  federal  cause. 


314  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

It  should  be  understood  that  Fremont  was  very  popular 
in  the  West,  where  he  was  looked  upon  not  only  as  the 
ideal  soldier,  but  as  a  champion  and  leader  of  the  cause 
of  freedom.  His  nomination  as  the  Republican  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  in  1856,  gave  him  a  certain  political 
prestige  that  was  not  readily  weakened,  and  which  un- 
doubtedly still  was  very  dear  to  him.  As  the  famed 
"  path-finder "  and  explorer,  there  was  some  degree  of 
romantic  interest  attached  to  his  name,  and  thousands  of 
people  who  did  not  consider  all  the  consequences  of  his 
acts  were  ready  to  cheer  whatever  he  said  or  did.  Lincoln 
was  greatly  distressed  by  this  act  of  insubordination  (for 
such  it  was)  on  the  part  of  Fremont,  and  was  troubled  by 
the  necessity  of  rebuking  a  man  whose  services  he  hoped 
to  find  useful  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  But  he 
determined  to  allow  Fremont  an  opportunity  to  recall  and 
modify  his  proclamation.  Accordingly,  he  sent  him  by 
a  private  messenger  a  letter  asking  him  to  make  such 
changes  in  the  proclamation  as  would  conform  it  to  the 
act  of  Congress  already  referred  to.  "  Should  you  shoot 
a  man,  according  to  the  proclamation,"  said  Lincoln,  "  the 
confederates  would  very  certainly  shoot  our  best  men  in 
their  hands,  in  retaliation  ;  and  so  on,  indefinitely.  It  is, 
therefore,  my  order  that  you  allow  no  man  to  be  shot 
without  first  having  my  approbation  or  consent." 

As  for  the  other  part  of  Fremont's  manifesto,  Lincoln 
said :  "  I  think  there  is  great  danger  that  the  closing 
paragraph,  in  relation  to  the  confiscation  of  property  and 
the  liberating  of  slaves  of  traitorous  owners,  will  alarm  our 


DISAPPROVAL    OF  THE  PRESIDENT.  315 

Southern  Union  friends  and  turn  them  against  us ;  perhaps 
ruin  our  rather  fair  prospect  for  Kentucky."  He  asked 
Fremont  (as  if  of  his  own  motion,  and  not  with  the  public 
understanding  that  he  had  been  overruled  from  Washing- 
ton) to  modify  the  proclamation  so  as  to  have  it  con- 
formable to  the  laws  of  Congress  and  the  rules  of  war 
already  suggested.  At  that  time  there  were  not  a  few 
persons  who  thought,  when  the  President's  letter  was 
made  public,  that  Lincoln  desired  to  have  Fremont  bear 
the  brunt  of  the  unfriendly  criticism  that  might  be  made 
on  a  modification  of  his  now  famous  proclamation,  while 
Lincoln  should  escape  that  censure.  Perhaps  Fremont 
thought  this.  But  Lincoln's  kindness  of  heart  undoubt- 
edly did  suggest  this  means  of  escape  for  Fremont  from 
the  dilemma  in  which  he  had  been  involved.  Fremont 
was  fixed,  however,  in  his  opinions.  He  declined  to  recall 
or  change  any  part  of  his  admired  proclamation ;  and  Lin- 
coln, in  an  order  dated  September  n,  1861,  did  so  modify 
the  proclamation  of  Fremont  that  it  should  not  transcend 
the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  before  mentioned. 
General  Fremont,  subsequently,  wrote  to  one  of  the  rebel 
officers  commanding  in  Missouri,  qualifying  and  explaining 
that  part  of  his  proclamation  relating  to  shooting  prisoners, 
and  declaring  that  it  was  not  intended  to  apply  to  any 
men  engaged  in  military  operations  in  the  field,  or  to 
ignore  the  ordinary  rights  of  humanity  with  respect  to 
wounded  men.  Thus  terminated  that  important  and 
exciting  incident. 
At  this  point  it  may  as  well  be  recorded  that  General 


316  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

David  Hunter,  commanding  the  Military  Department  of 
the  South,  with  head-quarters  at  Hilton  Head,  S.  C.,  did, 
in  the  following  May,  also  issue  a  proclamation  of  emanci- 
pation not  unlike  that  of  Fremont.  In  this  document  he 
recited  the  fact  that  martial  law  had  been  proclaimed  in 
the  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina,  and 
that  as  slavery  and  martial  law  were  incompatible  with 
each  other  in  a  free  country,  all  persons  in  those  three 
States,  "  heretofore  held  as  slaves,  are  therefore  declared 
forever  free."  This  extraordinary  proclamation  was  re- 
voked by  Lincoln  without  delay,  and  with  none  of  the 
gentle  consideration  he  had  shown  to  Fremont.  Hunter 
had  before  him  the  example  of  Fremont's  being  over- 
ruled, and  Lincoln  justly  thought  that  his  offence  was 
therefore  less  excusable  than  the  indiscretion  of  Fremont. 
In  a  proclamation  issued  by  the  President  as  soon  as 
Hunter's  manifesto  could  reach  Washington,  some  doubt 
was  expressed  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  document 
signed  by  General  Hunter.  But  the  President  proclaimed 
"  that  neither  General  Hunter  nor  any  other  commander 
or  person  has  been  authorized  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  make  proclamation  declaring  the  slaves 
of  any  State  free  ;  and  that  the  supposed  proclamation, 
now  in  question,  whether  genuine  or  false,  is  altogether 
void,  so  far  as  respects  such  declaration."  He  further 
said,  to  settle  forever  all  doubt  on  this  grave  matter,  that 
he  reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  determine  whether  it 
should  become  a  necessity  indispensable  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  government,  to  exercise  the  supposed  power 


IRRITATION  IN  THE  BORDER   STATES.  317 

of  proclaiming  emancipation  to  the  slaves.  He  could  not 
delegate  that  authority  to  commanders  in  the  field  under 
any  circumstances. 

Although  Lincoln  quoted,  for  the  benefit  of  these 
over-hasty  generals,  the  act  of  Congress  relating  to  the 
confiscation  of  rebel  property,  it  is  evfdent  that  he  would 
not  permit  that  to  stand  in  the  way  of  an  emancipation 
of  the  slaves,  whenever  he  thought  the  time  had  come  for 
that  act.  He  saw  from  the  first  that  freedom  for  the 
slaves  would  be  one  of  the  results  of  the  rebellion.  He 
looked  for  that  ;  but  he  reserved  for  himself  the  right  of 
declaring  when  the  time  had  arrived.  Lincoln  was  a  rigid 
defender  of  the  Constitution,  and  he  had  even  declared 
that  so  long  as  the  Constitution  allowed  slavery  to  exist, 
a  law  to  reclaim  fugitive  slaves  was  permissible.  And  so 
long  as  the  border  States  were  to  be  saved  to  the  Union, 
he  was  reluctant  to  allow  any  thing  to  happen,  that  he 
could  avert,  to  alienate  and  anger  the  people  of  those 
States.  He  hated  slavery,  and  he  would  be  glad  to  sweep 
it  from  the  land;  but  his  first  duty  was  to  the  federal 
Union  ;  and  he  declared  that  if  he  could  save  the  Union, 
with  or  without  slavery,  he  would  do  that  and  that  alone. 

On  this  line  of  policy  the  Secretary  of  State  was  in- 
structed to  assure  the  governments  of  European  nations 
that  no  change  in  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  South- 
ern States  was  proposed.  It  was  true  that  many  persons, 
hostile  to  Lincoln,  hostile  to  the  federal  Union,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  had  all  along  insisted  that  the  war  was 
waged  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  ;  and  it  was  not  uncom- 


318  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN, 

mon  for  these  to  stigmatize  the  Union  soldiers  and  the  fed- 
eral officers  as  "  abolition  hirelings/'  General  McClellan 
showed  that  he  was  particularly  sensitive  to  reproaches  of 
this  sort,  and,  in  his  letters  to  the  President,  he  urged 
that  every  assurance  be  given  to  pledge  the  Administration 
to  the  protection  of  the  peculiar  institution.  McClellan's 
attitude  upon  this  question  was  so  marked  that  many  of 
Lincoln's  impatient  friends  murmured  at  the  general's 
being,  as  they  said,  more  anxious  about  the  rights  of  the 
slave-holders  than  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  These 
attacks  upon  McClellan,  coming  as  they  did  when  Lincoln 
was  obliged  to  overrule  the  doings  of  Fremont,  gave  the 
President  infinite  anxiety,  and  added  to  his  accumulating 
burdens.  He  was  brutally  criticised  by  political  oppo- 
nents in  the  North  ;  he  was  reproached  by  his  ardent  and 
indiscreet  friends.  On  the  one  hand,  he  was  accused  of 
going  too  fast  in  the  direction  of  the  destruction  of 
slavery.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was  bitterly  assailed  for 
his  slowness  in  the  same  direction.  The  opponents  of  the 
war,  for  these  had  begun  to  show  themselves,  called  him 
an  Abolitionist.  The  radical  Republicans  declared  that  he 
was  a  "  pro-slavery  Republican." 

But  while  these  things  harassed  Lincoln,  they  did  not 
swerve  him  in  the  least  from  the  course  he  had  marked 
out  for  himself.  In  pursuance  of  his  plan  to  provide  for 
a  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  compensating  the  loyal 
slave-holders  for  their  losses,  he  sent  to  Congress,  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1862,  a  message  recommending  the  passage 
of  a  joint  resolution  declaring  that  the  United  States 


MESSAGE  TO   CONGRESS.  319 

ought  to  cooperate  with  any  State  that  should  institute 
measures  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves, 
extending  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid  for  the  compensa- 
tion of  those  whose  slaves  should  be  made  free  by  the 
acts  of  the  States.  In  that  message  Lincoln  said  :  "  If 
the  proposition  contained  in  the  resolution  does  not  meet 
the  approval  of  Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  an 
end  ;  but  if  it  does  command  such  approval,  I  deem  it  of 
importance  that  the  States  and  people  immediately  inter- 
ested should  at  once  be  distinctly  notified  of  the  fact,  so 
that  they  may  begin  to  consider  whether  to  accept  or 
reject  it."  Furthermore,  he  said  that  if  resistance  to  the 
national  authority  should  cease,  the  war  would  cease. 
That  was  an  intimation  that  if  the  war  ended  then,  or 
soon,  slavery  would  be  saved  unharmed.  "  If,"  he  added, 
"  resistance  continues,  the  war  must  also  continue  ;  and 
it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the  incidents  which  may 
attend,  and  all  the  ruin  which  may  follow  it.  Such  as 
may  seem  indispensable,  or  may  obviously  promise  great 
efficiency  toward  ending  the  struggle,  must  and  will 
come."  This  was  rightly  understood  to  mean  that  it  was 
possible  that,  if  gradual  and  compensated  emancipation 
were  not  accepted,  slavery  would  be  destroyed  by  the 
long  continuance  of  the  war. 

Congress  adopted  the  resolution.  The  border  States, 
for  which  it  was  intended  to  make  provision,  regarded 
the  measure  with  sullen  indifference.  Most  of  the  border 
State  men  in  Congress  voted  against  the  resolution  or  let 
it  severely  alone.  In  his  anxiety,  Lincoln  invited  a  con- 


320  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ference  at  the  White  House  between  himself  and  the 
border  State  Congressmen.  He  wanted  to  avert  from 
them,  if  it  were  possible,  the  losses  that  he  saw  must  fall 
upon  them,  sooner  or  later.  If  they  would  only  accept 
the  plan  that  he  had  outlined  for  their  compensation,  in 
case  slavery  should  be  abolished  by  their  own  consent,  all 
might  yet  be  well.  To  these  representative  Congressmen 
he  read  a  carefully-prepared  paper,  urging  upon  them  the 
necessity  and  expediency  of  their  acceding  to  his  plan. 
He  had  been,  as  we  have  seen,  an  advocate  of  the  policy 
of  colonization,  once  proposed  by  such  men  as  Henry 
Clay,  and,  in  this  address  to  the  border  State  men,  he 
said  :  "  Room  in  South  America  for  colonization  can  be 
obtained  cheaply  and  in  abundance  ;  and,  when  numbers 
shall  be  large  enough  to  be  company  and  encouragement 
for  one  another,  the  freed  people  will  not  be  so  reluctant 
to  go." 

In  this  remarkable  address  the  President  allowed  to 
escape  him  only  one  phrase  that  indicated  his  own  trou- 
bles. Speaking  of  Hunter's  emancipation  edict,  he  said 
that  in  repudiating  it  he  had  given  offence  and  dissatis- 
faction to  many  whose  support  the  country  could  not 
afford  to  lose  ;  and  he  added  :  "  The  pressure  in  this 
direction  is  still  upon  me,  and  is  increasing."  The  fact 
was  that  the  loyal  people  of  the  country  had  grown  weary 
of  seeing  the  war  delayed,  as  they  believed,  by  the  appar- 
ent determination  of  the  government  to  protect  slavery 
at  all  hazards.  Many  people  who  were  cordial  supporters 
of  Lincoln's  general  policy  denounced  some  of  the  gen- 


THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA    MADE  FREE.        321 

erals  of  the  army  as  "  slave-catchers  "  and  defenders  of 
the  peculiar  institution.  They  were  almost  as  unreasona- 
ble as  the  border  State  men,  who  refused  to  be  moved  by 
the  plaintive  appeal  of  the  much-harassed  President.  The 
conference  between  the  President  and  the  border  State 
men  bore  no  fruit.  The  majority  of  those  whom  he 
addressed  responded  adversely  to  his  appeal.  He  might 
have  said,  then,  that  the  consequences  of  their  refusal 
were  soon  to  be  visited  upon  them  and  their  constituents. 
He  uttered  no  reproach,  no  warning. 

The  conference  here  alluded  to  took  place  in  July,  1862. 
It  seems  strange  that  the  representatives  of  the  border 
States  did  not  take  warning  by  what  had  already  been 
done  by  Congress.  A  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  had  passed  Congress.  When  Lincoln 
signed  the  bill  that  gave  freedom  to  the  slaves  at  the  seat 
of  the  national  government,  he  said  :  "  Little  did  I  dream, 
in  1849,  when  I  proposed  to  abolish  slavery  in  this  capital, 
and  could  scarcely  get  a  hearing  for  the  proposition,  that 
it  would  be  so  soon  accomplished."  There  was  a  certain 
poetic  justice  that  the  man  who,  thirteen"  years  before, 
had  had  the  courage  to  ask  that  slavery  be  expelled  from 
the  capital  of  the  nation  should  be  permitted  to  set  his 
signature,  as  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  meas- 
ure he  had  vainly  proffered  as  a  representative  of  the 
people. 

About  this  time,  that  is  to  say,  during  the  summer  of 
1862,  the  question  of  arming  the  freedmen  began  to  be 
seriously  considered.  There  were  many  of  these  people 


322  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

now  inside  the  lines  of  the  Union  army.  They  acted  as 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  ;  were  employed  as 
cooks,  teamsters,  and  laborers.  Lincoln  immediately 
favored  the  proposition  to  arm  some  of  the  thousands  of 
able-bodied  colored  men  who  swarmed  the  Union  camps, 
subsisting  on  rations  furnished  them  by  the  government. 
He  said  :  "  Negroes,  like  other  people,  act  from  motive. 
Why  should  they  do  any  thing  for  us  if  we  do  nothing  for 
them  ?  If  they  stake  their  lives  for  us,  they  must  be 
prompted  by  the  strongest  of  motives,  even  the  promise 
of  freedom.  And  the  promise,  being  made,  must  be 
kept."  With  his  usual  shrewdness,  Lincoln  saw  in  the 
arming  of  the  freedmen  another  reason,  another  excuse, 
for  their  liberation  from  the  bonds  that  still  were  held  in 
reserve  for  them,  as  it  were.  Accordingly,  when  the 
proposition  authorizing  the  enlistment  of  colored  troops 
became  a  law,  it  contained  a  clause  giving  freedom  to  all 
who  served  in  the  army,  and  to  their  families  as  well. 

The  war  yet  lagged.  Military  operations  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  were  carried  on  without  any  startling 
or  decisive  results,  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  com- 
manded by  McClellan,  from  which  the  people  expected 
so  much,  remained  inactive  near  Washington.  The  levy- 
ing of  troops  and  the  collecting  of  new  and  burdensome 
taxes  went  on,  to  the  growing  discontent  of  the  people, 
who  naturally  asked  for  what  purpose  was  this  expendi- 
ture if  nothing  was  done  to  end  the  war  and  restore  the 
federal  authority  in  the  so-called  seceded  States.  This 
discontent,  in  many  instances,  took  the  form  of  a  protest 


LETTER  TO  HORACE   GREELEY.  323 

against  Lincoln's  hesitation  to  abolish  slavery  everywhere 
by  proclamation.  By  act  of  Congress,  slavery  had  not 
only  been  excluded  from  the  District  of  Columbia, 
but,  by  another  act,  it  was  declared  illegal  in  the  Terri- 
tories of  the  United  States.  Probably  the  best  expression 
of  the  demand  for  an  emancipation  proclamation  from 
the  President,  made  by  the  more  radical  of  Lincoln's 
friends,  was  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Lincoln  and  published 
in  the  New  York  Tribune  by  its  editor,  Horace  Greeley. 
In  his  letter,  Mr.  Greeley  employed  language  that  was 
intemperate  and  even  dictatorial.  Mr.  Lincoln's  imme- 
diate friends  were  astonished  that  he  should  appear  in  a 
newspaper,  in  reply  to  a  letter  addressed  to  him.  But  he 
was  preparing  the  way  for  the  emancipation  proclamation 
which  subsequently  appeared.  This  was  his  opportunity 
to  aid  in  that  preparation.  Accordingly,  under  date  of 
August  22,  1862,  he  sent  to  Mr.  Greeley  a  letter  which 
may  be  introduced  here  as  an  admirable  example  of 
Lincoln's  lucidity  of  style,  as  well  as  a  good  illustration 
of  his  frankness  and  simplicity  of  character.  It  may  be 
said,  too,  that  though  Lincoln  was  criticised  severely  for 
taking  any  notice  of  Mr.  Greeley's  somewhat  heated  and 
ungenerous  utterances,  these  critics  did  not  understand 
that  Lincoln  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  address  the 
people  through  Mr.  Greeley's  paper.  Following  is  the 
letter : 

"  Hon.  Horace  Greeley : 

"  DEAR  SIR — I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  nineteenth  in- 
stant, addressed  to  myself  through  the  New   York   Tribune. 


324  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

"  If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  facts 
which  I  may  know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here 
controvert  them. 

"  If  there  be  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to  be  falsely 
drawn,  I  do  not  now  and  here  argue  against  them. 

"  If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial 
tone,  I  waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I 
have  always  supposed  to  be  right. 

"  As  to  the  policy  I  '  seem  to  be  pursuing,'  as  you  say,  I 
have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  I  would  save  the 
Union.  I  would  save  it  in  the  shortest  way  under  the  Con- 
stitution. 

"  The  sooner  the  national  authority  can  be  restored,  the 
nearer  the  Union  will  be — the  Union  as  it  was. 

"  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they 
could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with 
them. 

"  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree 
with  them. 

"  My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either 
to  save  or  destroy  slavery. 

"  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would 
do  it ;  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do 
it  ;  and  if  I  could  do  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others 
alone,  I  would  also  do  that. 

"  What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  be- 
cause I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union  ;  and  what  I  forbear, 
I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help  to  save  the 
Union. 

"  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  belie*ve  what  I  am  doing 
hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  believe  doing 
more  will  help  the  cause. 

"  I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and 
I  shall  adopt  new  views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true 
views. 


THE  REBELS  DRIVEN  OUT  OF  MARYLAND.       325 

"  I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  views  of 
official  duty,  and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed 
personal  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free. 

"Yours, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

Meanwhile,  the  rebel  army,  under  General  Lee,  had 
achieved  some  important  successes,  and,  flushed  with 
victory,  had  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Maryland.  A 
border  State,  yet  loyal  to  the  Union,  had  been  invaded. 
The  news  created  something  like  a  panic  throughout  the 
country.  Lincoln  was  profoundly  stirred.  He  had  been 
considering  the  issuing  of  a  proclamation  of  emancipa- 
tion. He  had  even  prepared  a  draft  of  such  a  document. 
But  when  others  urged  it  upon  him  he  almost  invariably 
argued  against  it ;  and  in  this  way,  as  had  been  his  wont 
when  he  was  in  the  profession  of  the  law,  he  found  the 
weakest  as  well  as  the  strongest  points  of  the  case  under 
consideration.  He  seemed  to  hesitate.  But,  as  he  sub- 
sequently admitted,  when  Maryland  was  invaded  by 
the  rebel  forces,  and  the  national  capital  was  put  in 
jeopardy,  he  made  a  solemn  vow  to  God  that,  if  the  in- 
vader should  be  expelled,  he  would  thereupon  issue  the 
long-deferred  proclamation.  The  battle  of  South  Moun- 
tain was  fought  September  I4th,  the  battle  of  Antietam 
on  the  seventeenth  of  the  month.  The  rebels  were  whip- 
ped, routed,  and  Broken  into  pieces.  They  retreated 
across  the  Potomac,  and  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
were  saved.  On  the  twenty-second  of  September,  1862, 
the  President  issued  his  immortal  proclamation  declaring 
freedom  to  the  slaves  in  bondage. 


326  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN-. 

The  emancipation  proclamation  was  hailed  with  great 
acclaim  throughout  the  free  States.  Bonfires,  illumina- 
tions, salvos  of  artillery,  and  public  meetings  manifested 
the  people's  joy  over  what  was  declared  to  be  the  down- 
fall of  slavery.  The  "  house  divided  against  itself"  would 
no  longer  exist  so  divided.  In  many  towns  and  cities 
thanksgiving  services  were  held,  resolutions  of  approval 
and  congratulation  were  adopted,  and  the  President  was 
assured,  by  every  possible  form  of  words,  of  the  hearty 
cooperation  of  the  nation  in  the  work  yet  remaining  to 
be  done.  From  this  time  forward,  the  war  took  on  a  new 
aspect.  It  was  a  war  for  the  reestablishment  of  the 
Union — the  Union  without  slavery.  Lincoln,  by  the 
terms  of  his  proclamation,  exempted  from  its  provisions 
those  States  and  parts  of  States  in  which  the  federal 
authority  was  acknowledged.  He  was  faithful  to  his 
promise  not  to  interfere  with  the  peculiar  institution  in 
the  loyal  States.  And  in  the  final  issue  of  the  proclama- 
tion, New  Year's  Day,  1863,  he  mentioned  by  name  the 
parts  of  the  federal  Union  thus  exempted.  But  these 
exceptions  were  felt  to  be  comparatively  inconsiderable. 
Virtually,  slavery  was  abolished  everywhere.  In  a  few 
months,  at  furthest,  freedom,  not  slavery,  would  be  the  rule 
over  every  inch  of  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
ancient  reproach  would  be  removed  from  the  republic. 

The  right  of  a  military  power  to  seize  and  confiscate 
the  property  of  the  persons  with  which  it  was  contending 
is  unquestioned.  Slaves,  being  regarded  as  property, 
were  liable  to  confiscation.  According  to  the  laws  of 


THE  EMANCIPA  TION  PROCLAMA  TION.  327 

war,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  had  a  clear 
right  to  treat  the  rebels  as  public  enemies,  and  the  act  of 
emancipation  exercised  by  the  President,  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
weakening  the  power  of  those  public  enemies,  was  strictly 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  and  usages  of  civilized  nations. 
In  due  course  of  time,  however,  Congress  so  exercised  its 
civil  power,  by  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  re- 
public, that  any  possible  doubt  as  to  the  efficacy  of  the 
President's  act  disappeared. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  members  of  the  President's 
cabinet  not  only  cordially  approved  of  the  issuing  of  the 
proclamation,  but  they  filled  their  proper  functions  as 
advisers  of  the  President  in  this  matter.  Lincoln  had 
prepared  his  proclamation  earlier  in  the  year.  He  was 
ready  to  issue  it  in  July.  When  the  subject  was  laid  be- 
fore the  cabinet  for  final  approval,  Secretary  Seward 
strongly  urged  that  its  promulgation  be  postponed  for  a 
while.  At  that  time  the  rebel  army  under  General  Lee  was 
marching  northward  to  invade  Pennsylvania.  The  mili- 
tary fortunes  of  the  republic  were  at  a  low  ebb.  There 
was  great  depression  of  spirit  everywhere.  Mr.  Seward 
argued  that  the  issuing  9f  the  emancipation  at  that  criti- 
cal juncture  would  be  generally  regarded  as  a  cry  for 
help ;  or,  as  Lincoln  put  it,  when  reporting  the  fact  after- 
wards, "  our  last  shriek  on  the  retreat."  It  was  then  that 
Lincoln  agreed  to  put  off  the  day  of  proclamation,  and 
subsequently  made  the  vow  to  God  to  issue  the  portentous 
and  solemn  document  if  Lee  should  be  driven  back.  It 


328  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

was  at  Mr.  Seward's  suggestion,  too,  that  the  word  "  main- 
tain "  was  inserted,  so  that  the  clause  thus  amended  read  : 
"  I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves 
within  said  designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and 
henceforth  shall  be,  free  ;  and  that  the  executive  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the 
freedom  of  said  persons."  Mr.  Chase,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  penned  the  concluding  paragraph,  which, 
being  approved  by  the  President,  was  added,  as  follows : 
"  And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of 
justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military 
necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind, 
and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God."  The  words, 
"  upon  military  necessity,"  however,  were  inserted  by 
Lincoln  before  the  paragraph  was  adopted  by  him  as  a 
part  of  this  immortal  document. 

The  people  of  foreign  countries,  especially  of  England, 
poured  across  the  Atlantic  their  congratulations  that 
slavery  was  at  last  abolished  in  the  republic  of  the 
United  States.  Lincoln  had  been  assured  by  many  of 
the  more  advanced  Republicans  who  were  nearest  him, 
that  the  British  Government  would  cordially  respond  to 
this  declaration  of  universal  freedom.  In  this  he  was  dis- 
appointed. Lord  John  Russell,  who,  as  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  was  the  official  mouthpiece  of 
the  British  Government  in  matters  outside  of  the  king- 
dom, in  a  despatch  to  the  British  Minister  at  Washington, 
mildly  sneered  at  the  proclamation  as  "  a  measure  of  a 


THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.  329 

very  questionable  kind,"  "  an  act  of  vengeance  on  the 
slave-owner."  With  evident  ill-nature  and  disposition  to 
cavil,  his  lordship  said :  "  It  professes  to  emancipate 
slaves  where  the  United  States  authorities  cannot  make 
emancipation  a  reality,  but  emancipates  no  one  where  the 
decree  can  be  carried  into  effect."  His  lordship  lived  to 
see  the  'decree  carried  into  effect  in  every  part  of  the 
American  republic. 

But  in  spite  of  the  unconcealed  hostility  of  govern- 
ments that  bore  only  ill-will  to  the  republic,  in  spite  of 
the  moral  assistance  given  by  these  to  the  slave-holders' 
rebellion,  the  fiat  had  gone  forth  throughout  all  the  land 
that  slavery  should  be  no  more.  For  a  brief  season  the 
hated  system  clung  to  the  earth  on  which  it  had  fattened. 
Thenceforward  its  struggles  were  fainter  and  more  faint. 
The  son  of  the  soil,  he  who  embodied  in  himself  the 
genius  of  America  and  its  highest  manhood,  had  set  his 
hand  to  the  decree  of  universal  freedom. 

The  preliminary  proclamation  of  September  22,  1862, 
and  the  final  proclamation,  dated  January  I,  1863,  are  as 
follows : 

"  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy 
thereof,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  hereafter,  as 
heretofore,  the  war  will  be  prosecuted  for  the  object  of  practi- 
cally restoring  the  constitutional  relation  between  the  United 
States  and  each  of  the  States  and  the  people  thereof,  in  which 
States  that  relation  is  or  may  be  suspended  or  disturbed. 

"  That  it  is  my  purpose,  upon  the  next  meeting  of  Congress, 
to  again  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  practical  measure  ten- 


330  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

dering  pecuniary  aid  to  the  free  acceptance  or  rejection  of  all 
slave  States,  so  called,  the  people  whereof  may  not  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  which  States  may  then 
have  voluntarily  adopted,  or  thereafter  may  voluntarily  adopt, 
immediate  or  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery  within  their  re- 
spective limits  ;  and  that  the  effort  to  colonize  persons  of 
African  descent  with  their  consent  upon  this  continent  or  else- 
where, with  the  previously  obtained  consent  of  the  Govern- 
ments existing  there,  will  be  continued. 

"  That,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free  ;  and 
the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including 
the  military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act 
or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts 
they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  afore- 
said, by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States, 
if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  ;  and  the  fact  that  any 
State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be,  in  good 
faith,  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by 
members  chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the 
qualified  voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in 
the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed 
conclusive  evidence  that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof, 
are  not  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States. 

"  That  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act  of  Congress  en- 
titled '  An  act  to  make  an  additional  article  of  war,'  approved 
March  13,  1862,  and  which  act  is  in  the  words  and  figures  fol- 
lowing : 

"  '  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  that 


THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.  331 

hereafter  the  following  shall  be  promulgated  as  an  additional 
article  of  war,  for  the  government  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  and  shall  be  obeyed  and  observed  as  such  : 

' '  ARTICLE. — All  officers  or  persons  in  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  the  United  States  are  prohibited  from  employing 
any  of  the  forces  under  their  respective  commands  for  the 
purpose  of  returning  fugitives  from  service  or  labor  who  may 
have  escaped  from  any  persons  to  whom  such  service  or  labor 
is  claimed  to  be  due,  and  any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty 
by  a  court-martial  of  violating  this  article  shall  be  dismissed 
from  service. 

' '  SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  this  act  shall  take 
effect  from  and  after  its  passage.' 

"  Also  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of  an  act  entitled 
1  An  act  to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish  treason  and  rebel- 
lion, to  seize  and  confiscate  property  of  rebels,  and  for  other 
purposes,'  approved  July  17,  1862,  and  which  sections  are  in 
the  words  and  figures  following  : 

' '  SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  slaves  of  per- 
sons who  shall  hereafter  be  engaged  in  rebellion  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  in  any  way  give 
aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from  such  persons  and  taking 
refuge  within  the  lines  of  the  army  ;  and  all  slaves  captured 
from  such  persons  or  deserted  by  them,  and  coming  under  the 
control  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  ;  and  all 
slaves  of  such  persons  found  on  [or]  being  within  any  place 
occupied  by  rebel  forces  and  afterwards  occupied  by  the 
forces  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  deemed  captives  of  war, 
and  shall  be  forever  free  of  their  servitude,  and  not  again  held 
as  slaves. 

' '  SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  slave  escap- 
ing into  any  State,  Territory,  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from 
any  other  State,  shall  be  delivered  up,  or  in  any  way  impeded 
or  hindered  of  his  liberty,  except  for  crime,  or  some  offence 
against  the  laws,  unless  the  person  claiming  said  fugitive  shall 
first  make  oath  that  the  person  to  whom  the  labor  or  service  of 


332  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

such  fugitive  is  alleged  to  be  due  is  his  lawful  owner  and  has 
not  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  in  the  present  rebel- 
lion, nor  in  any  way  given  aid  and  comfort  thereto  ;  and  no 
person  engaged  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United 
States  shall,  under  any  pretence  whatever,  assume  to  decide  on 
the  validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to  the  service  or  labor 
of  any  other  person,  or  surrender  up  any  such  person  to  the 
claimant,  on  pain  of  being  dismissed  from  the  service.' 

"And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon  and  order  all  persons 
engaged  in  the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States 
to  observe,  obey,  and  enforce,  within  their  respective  spheres 
of  service,  the  act  and  sections  above  recited. 

"  And  the  Executive  will  in  due  time  recommend  that  all 
citizens  of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  remained  loyal 
thereto  throughout  the  rebellion  shall  (upon  the  restoration  of 
the  constitutional  relation  between  the  United  States  and 
their  States  and  people,  if  that  relation  shall  have  been  sus- 
pended or  disturbed)  be  compensated  for  all  losses  by  acts  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  loss  of  slaves. 

"  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  twenty-second  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two,  and  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  the  eighty-seventh. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"  By  the  President  : 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 


"  WHEREAS,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a 
proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
containing,  among  other  things,  the  following,  to  wit  : 

" '  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held 


THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.  333 

as  slaves  within  any  State  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free  ;  and  the 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main- 
tain the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

" '  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  afore- 
said, by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States, 
if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  ;  and  the  fact  that  any 
State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith 
represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members 
chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  States  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the 
absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclu- 
sive evidence  that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not 
then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States.' 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
^United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first 
day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose 
so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hun- 
dred days  from  the  day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and  des- 
ignate as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people 
thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  the  following,  to  wit  : 

"Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St. 
James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St. 
Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New 


334  THE  L*FE  OF  LINCOLN. 

Orleans),  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight  counties  designated 
as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac, 
Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Ann,  and  Nor- 
folk, including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and 
which  excepted  parts  are  for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this 
proclamation  were  not  issued. 

"  And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid, 
I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within 
said  designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and  hencefor- 
ward shall  be,  free  ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the 
United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said 
persons. 

"And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to 
be  free  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self- 
defence  ;  and  I  recommend  to  them  that,  in  all  cases  when 
allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

"  And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons, 
of  suitable  condition,  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service 
of  the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and. 
other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

"  And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  jus- 
tice, warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity,  I 
invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious 
favor  of  Almighty  God. 

"In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-three,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America  the  eighty-seventh. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


A   DIFFICULT   MILITARY   SITUATION. 

Creation  and  Equipment  of  an  Army — The  Federal  Military  Plan — Retire- 
ment of  General  Scott — General  McClellan  in  Full  Command — Ap- 
pearance of  General  U.  S.  Grant — Fall  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson 
— Criticism  of  McClellan — Death  of  the  President's  Son  Willie — Mili- 
itary  Operations  on  the  Peninsula — McClellan's  Extraordinary  Delays 
— His  Advice  to  the  President — Halleck  Made  General-in-Chief — A 
Conference  of  Loyal  Governors — The  Second  Bull  Run  Defeat — An- 
tietam — McClellan  Relieved  of  His  Command. 

WHILE  the  steps  that  led  up  to  the  issuing 
of  the  emancipation  proclamation  were  being 
taken,  Lincoln  was  greatly  troubled  by  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  of  the  military  situation.  The  eyes  of  the 
people,  for  the  most  part,  were  turned  toward  Washing- 
ton, where  was  the  focus  of  all  intelligence  relating  to 
the  conduct  of  the  war  as  well  as  to  political  affairs. 
The  operations  around  the  national  capital  were,  for  vari- 
ous reasons,  more  interesting  than  were  those  of  greater 
real  importance  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  In  that 
direction,  it  seemed,  nothing  was  done  but  to  make  elab- 
orate and  extensive  preparations.  General  McClellan 
was  now  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame  and  popularity.  He 
was  yet  young,  barely  turned  of  thirty-six,  but  he  had 

335 


336  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

already  made  himself  a  favorite  with  the  army  and  the 
people.  From  the  first,  Lincoln  was  profoundly  anxious 
to  find  generals  who  could  command  popular  confidence 
and  also  win  battles.  This  was  not  an  easy  task.  The 
larger  number  of  the  men  who  appeared  to  be  available 
were  not  skilled  in  military  tactics  and  strategy  ;  they  had 
had  very  little  experience  in  real  war.  Of  the  veterans  of 
the  war  with  Mexico,  General  Scott  and  General  Wool 
were  now  well  advanced  in  years.  The  abilities  of  the 
younger  graduates  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point  had  not  yet  been  developed.  Affairs  were  in  a 

confused  and  chaotic  condition. 

• 

Many  men  fresh  from  civil  life  were  commissioned  as 
major  and  brigadier  generals.  Some  of  these  proved 
good  soldiers,  and  many  of  them  proved  incompetent. 
The  losses  entailed  by  the  preliminary  trials  and  school- 
ing of  these  civilian  generals  were  doubtless  very  great. 
When  McClellan,  fresh  from  victorious  fields,  assumed 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  summer  of 
1861,  he  found  a  fine  body  of  men,  fifty  thousand  in 
number,  waiting  for  his  organizing  hand.  Fresh  levies  of 
troops  were  pouring  in,  and  before  the  year  closed,  his 
command  was  roughly  estimated  to  contain  about  two 
hundred  thousand  men.  As  early  as  October  27,  1861, 
General  McClellan's  official  reports  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  showed  that  he  had  147,695  men  ready  for  duty; 
and  the  arriving  levies  almost  immediately  available 
would  increase  this  number  to  168,318.  It  must  be  said 
that  the  nucleus  of  this  great  army  was  gathered  by 


THE  FEDERAL   MILITARY  PLAN.  337 

Lincoln,  who,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  of  the  United  States,  had  strained  his  authority  to 
the  utmost  to  collect  a  force  for  the  defence  of  the  capital 
and  to  serve  as  a  framework  on  which  should  be  organ- 
ized a  large  and  aggressive  fighting  army. 

His  general  plan,  adopted  after  much  anxious  consulta- 
tion with  his  most  trusted  advisers,  was  as  follows :  To 
blockade  the  entire  coast-line  of  the  rebel  States ;  to  ac- 
quire military  occupation  of  the  border  States  so  as  to 
protect  Union  men  and  repel  invasion ;  to  clear  the 
Mississippi  River  of  rebel  obstructions,  thus  dividing  the 
rebel  confederacy  and  relieving  the  West,  which  was  de- 
prived of  its  natural  outlet  to  the  sea ;  to  destroy  the 
rebel  army  between  Washington  and  Richmond  and  cap- 
ture the  rebel  capital.  This  vast  plan  had  been  formed 
in  the  mind  of  Lincoln  by  the  very  necessities  of  the  situ- 
ation. It  was  considered  and  brooded  over  while  prepa- 
rations for  its  execution  were  being  made,  and  while  the 
great  questions  of  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  and  the 
confiscation  of  rebel  property  were  also  under  considera- 
tion. If  we  remember  that  at  this  time,  also,  the  foreign 
relations  of  the  government  were  strained,  and  that  the 
financial  resources  were  severely  taxed,  we  shall  have 
some  notion  of  the  prodigious  cares  that  weighed  down 
the  man  who,  far  into  the  morning  watch,  walked  the 
lonely  corridors  of  the  White  House,  thinking,  thinking, 
while  others  slept. 

Early  in  November,  General  Scott,  who  held  the  highest 
command  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  having  been 


33^  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

offended  by  General  McClellan,  asked  to  be  relieved  from 
active  duty,  and  placed  on  the  retired  list.  His  request 
was  granted  ;  and  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  the  members 
of  his  cabinet,  visited  the  old  veteran  at  his  mansion  in 
Washington,  and  presented  to  him,  in  person,  a  most  af- 
fectionate and  generous  farewell  address.  Subsequently, 
in  a  message  to  Congress,  Lincoln  dwelt  with  warm  praise 
on  the  services  that  General  Scott  had  rendered  to  the 
country,  expressing  his  belief  that  whatever  could  be 
done  to  reward  him,  the  nation  would  still  be  in  debt  to 
General  Scott.  McClellan  was  now  in  supreme  command. 
Naturally,  Lincoln  being  a  Western  man,  felt  the  su- 
preme necessity  for  the  speedy  opening  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  The  strongest  and  most  numerous  opponents 
of  the  war  were  in  the  West,  and  their  complaints  of  the 
hardships  entailed  on  the  people,  in  consequence  of  the 
prolonged  hostilities,  seemed  to  have  more  influence  than 
in  the  Eastern  States,  where  those  hardships  were  less 
perceptible — perhaps  less  real.  Lincoln's  anxiety  was  not 
very  well  appreciated  by  the  Eastern  people,  or  by  the 
generals  and  politicians  that  thronged  in  Washington. 
When,  in  course  of  time,  the  river  was  opened,  the  elation 
of  the  President  showed  itself  in  many  odd  expressions. 
He  gloried  in  the  fact  that  "  the  Father  of  Waters  went 
unvexed  to  the  sea."  And,  in  a  message  to  Congress, 
greatly  to  the  scandal  of  some  of  the  more  fastidious  of 
his  friends,  he  referred  to  the  gun-boats  on  the  Missis- 
sippi as  "  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet,"  that  went  whither  they 
chose.  But,  as  yet,  all  this  was  unaccomplished. 


APPEARANCE   OF  GENERAL   GRANT.  339 

In  pursuance  of  his  programme,  General  U.  S.  Grant, 
then  rising  somewhat  in  the  popular  esteem,  attacked  and 
destroyed  Belmont,  a  military  depot  of  the  rebels,  in 
Mississippi  ;  General  Garfield  defeated  Humphrey  Mar- 
shall at  Middle  Creek,  Kentucky,  and  General  Geo.  H. 
Thomas  defeated  Generals  Zollikoffer  and  Crittenden  at 
Mill  Spring,  in  the  same  State.  These  victories  did  much 
to  hem  the  rebels  within  the  lines  of  the  so-called  seceded 
States,  and  also  crippled  them  much.  This  was  followed 
up  by  the  capture  of  Fort  Henry,  on  the  Tennessee,  and 
Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland  River.  These  streams, 
emptying  into  the  Ohio  River,  were  very  necessary  to 
help  in  military  operations  against  the  Southwestern  rebel 
States.  The  forts  were  taken  and  the  rivers  cleared  by 
General  Grant,  commanding  the  land  forces,  and  Admiral 
Foote,  in  command  of  a  fleet  of  "  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet." 
Fort  Donelson  was  commanded  by  the  rebel  generals, 
Buckner  and  Floyd,  the  latter  being  the  same  traitor  who, 
as  Secretary  of  War,  had  done  his  best  to  hamper  the 
government  while  he  yet  held  office  under  President 
Buchanan.  The  rebel  generals  asked  Grant  for  a  parley 
to  settle  terms  of  surrender.  To  this  Grant  replied  :  "  No 
terms  except  unconditional  surrender  can  be  accepted.  I 
propose  to  move  immediately  on  your  works."  This  gave 
Grant  his  popular  title  of  "  Unconditional  Surrender 
Grant."  The  rebels  did  not  wait.  Floyd,  conscious  of 
the  darkness  of  his  guilt,  fled  in  the  night  with  a  small 
force.  Buckner  surrendered  twelve  thousand  prisoners  of 
war  and  much  material  for  fighting. 


340  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

This  was  in  February,  1862.  Kentucky  was  now  cleared 
of  rebels,  and  Tennessee  was  opened  to  the  occupation  of 
the  federal  forces.  Early  in  March,  General  S.  R.  Curtis 
fought  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  and  the  Union  flag 
was  once  more  floating  in  the  State  of  Arkansas.  A  few 
days  later,  General  John  Pope  moved  down  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  and,  by  a  series  of  successes,  yet  further 
broke  the  armed  opposition  to  the  progress  of  the  federal 
army  and  the  gun-boats.  On  the  6th-of  April,  1862,  was 
fought  the  great  and  terrible  battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pitts- 
burgh Landing,  in  which  the  carnage  on  both  sides  was 
awful,  and  many  brave  and  distinguished  officers,  includ- 
ing General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  the  rebel  commander, 
were  killed.  The  defeated  rebels  were  sent  flying  to 
their  fortified  line  at  Corinth,  Miss.,  where  they  were  at- 
tacked by  General  Halleck,  driven  out,  and  compelled  to 
retreat,  leaving  behind  them,  in  their  precipitate  flight,  a 
vast  accumulation  of  military  stores.  Thus,  by  the  end  of 
May,  1862,  the  rebels  saw  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Kentucky, 
and  Tennessee  torn  from  their  grasp,  and  the  United 
States  flag  floating  once  more  over  these  recovered  States. 

That  part  of  the  programme  which  required  the  block- 
ade and  occupation  of  the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  rebel 
States  was  not  overlooked  meanwhile.  During  the 
months  of  March  and  April,  1862,  Roanoke  Island,  N.  C., 
was  captured  with  great  stores  of  arms  and  ammunition 
and  many  prisoners  by  Admiral  Goldsborough  and  General 
Burnside.  Newburn,  N.  C.,  fell  next,  and  Fort  Pulaski 
and  Fort  Macon,  on  the  same  coast-line,  soon  followed  in 


OPERATIONS  ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI.  34! 

surrender.  In  the  autumn  of  1861  an  expedition  under 
General  B.  F.  Butler  landed  at  Ship  Island,  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  about  midway  between  New  Orleans  and  Mobile. 
A  fleet  of  armed  vessels  under  Admiral  Farragut  soon 
after  arrived,  and  on  the  i/th  of  April  Farragut  appeared 
below  the  forts  that  guarded  the  approaches  to  the  city 
of  New  Orleans.  After  bombarding  these  impregnable 
fortifications  for  several  days,  the  gallant  Admiral  re- 
solved to  run  past  them.  Making  due  and  skilful  prep- 
arations for  the  desperate  undertaking,  amid  a  storm  of 
bombs  and  solid  shot  Farragut  passed  the  forts,  and,  de- 
stroying the  rebel  fleet  above  them,  ascended  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  appeared  before  New  Orleans,  to  the  amaze- 
ment and  consternation  of  its  people.  Baton  Rouge,  the 
capital  of  Louisiana,  next  fell,  and  the  surrender  of 
Natchez,  May  I2th,  opened  the  Mississippi  as  far  North 
as  Vicksburg,  a  city  which,  with  its  fortifications,  now 
remained  almost  the  sole  impediment  to  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  the  Father  of  Waters. 

These  events,  here  noted  in  the  order  of  their  happen- 
ing, were  scattered  over  several  months  in  their  occur- 
rence. Grant  fought  the  battle  of  Belmont  in  November, 
1861.  The  Mississippi  was  open  as  far  as  Natchez  about 
the  middle  of  May,  1862.  Many  of  the  decisive  import- 
ant military  and  naval  operations,  therefore,  were  under- 
taken in  the  winter.  But  May,  1862,  found  McClellan 
still  inactive  before  Washington.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
Lincoln,  besieged  as  he  was  by  importunities  for  aggres- 
sive movement  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  commanded 


342  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

by  General  McClellan,  was  greatly  troubled  by  the  slug- 
gishness of  that  large  and  costly  force?  The  General's 
head-quarters  were  in  the  city  of  Washington,  where  he 
maintained  great  state,  surrounded  by  a  large  and  brilliant 
staff,  many  of  whom  were  gentlemen  of  distinction, 
American  and  foreign.  Here  was  all  the  show  and 
parade  of  war,  but  no  fighting.  In  Washington,  too, 
were  the  politicians  in  great  numbers.  The  former  suc- 
cesses of  General  McClellan  had  suggested  to  the  minds 
of  many  that  he  would  be  available  as  a  presidential  can- 
didate, and  it  was  not  long  before  that  idea  was  upper- 
most in  the  mind  of  the  General  himself.  As  he  was 
conservative,  and  opposed  to  the  policy  of  emancipation, 
then  actively  discussed  everywhere,  and  was  disposed  to 
regard  the  institution  of  slavery  as  something  too  sacred 
to  be  interfered  with  or  disregarded  in  the  military  opera- 
tions then  on  foot,  he  was  naturally  the  choice  of  the 
Democratic  politicians. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  the  mass  of  the  people  lost 
their  faith  in  McClellan.  He  was  to  them  still  the 
"Young  Napoleon,"  who  had  done  so  much  in  his  earlier 
campaigns  in  Western  Virginia,  and  who,  it  was  fondly 
believed,  would  march  directly  upon  Richmond,  when  he 
should  once  determine  to  move.  Meantime,  he  wanted 
many  things  to  perfect  his  army.  When  these  were 
furnished,  he  found  that  other  imperfections  were  to  be 
removed.  People  seemed  to  think  that  McClellan's  inac- 
tion was  due  to  the  tardiness  with  which  the  government 
supplied  his  necessary  wants.  Great  was  the  popular  dis- 


McCLELLAN'S  EXTRAORDINARY  DELAYS.          343 

content.  It  would  appear  that  even  the  brilliant  and 
highly  important  successes  elsewhere  availed  nothing  as 
long  as  no  portentous  movement  was  made  upon  Rich- 
mond. "  On  to  Richmond  !  "  was  the  cry  of  the  Northern 
newspapers  and  of  the  politicians.  Washington  was  the 
centre  toward  which  the  active  elements  of  the  war  con- 
stantly tended.  Sooner  or  later,  it  appeared,  everybody 
went  to  Washington  during  the  progress  of  the  war.  The 
national  capital  was  not  only  a  vast  military  camp,  it  was 
the  place  where  offices  were  dispensed,  where  the  friends 
of  those  in  any  of  the  armies,  East  or  West,  went  for  tid- 
ings of  their  kin,  and  to  secure  for  these  the  promotions 
or  the  exchanges  desired.  The  seat  of  government  always 
attracts  a  prodigious  concourse  of  people  from  every  rank 
in  life.  Congressmen,  ministers  to  foreign  countries,  news- 
paper correspondents,  and  the  infinite  variety  of  men  who 
make  and  mould  public  opinion,  all  were  there.  These 
all,  though  representing  every  section  of  the  loyal  States, 
clamored  for  active  operations  by  the  vast  army  that  was 
encamped  just  across  the  Potomac  River,  opposite  Wash- 
ington, and  which  filled  the  capital  with  its  gayly  uniformed 
officers,  and  with  showy  preparations  for  a  movement  that 
was  unaccountably  delayed. 

Lincoln  was  in  frequent  and  anxious  consultation  with 
General  McClellan  and  the  other  generals  and  military 
men  gathered  at  the  capital.  Lincoln,  with  that  insatiate 
desire  to  know  all  that  man  could  know  by  hard  study, 
read  all  the  books  on  war  and  strategy  that  he  could  find, 
and  speedily  mastered  all  that  these  could  teach  him.  Far 


344  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

into  the  night,  when  the  ceaseless  importunities  of  those 
who  desired  audience  with  him  would  allow  him  an  hour 
or  two  of  seclusion,  he  pored  over  books  and  maps,  plans 
of  battles  and  sieges,  slowly  absorbing  the  details  of  mili- 
tary science,  as  he  had,  in  earlier  years  in  the  backwoods, 
grasped  the  parts  of  the  various  knowledge  that  he  had 
made  his  own.  McClellan  regarded  all  this  with  some 
contempt.  He  grew  impatient  of  Lincoln's  questioning, 
his  suggestions,  and  his  visits.  For  the  President,  anxious 
to  avoid  taking  up  too  much  of  the  time  of  the  com- 
mander, refrained,  as  far  as  possible,  from  sending  for  the 
General  to  come  to  him.  The  President  humbly  went  to 
the  head-quarters  of  the  General  in  Washington.  On  one 
occasion,  the  great  General  denied  himself  to  the  President 
on  the  plea  that  he  was  too  busy  with  his  staff  to  receive 
him ;  and  the  President,  although  he  knew  that  the  great 
man  was  taking  his  luncheon  with  his  staff,  and  so  secluded 
himself,  showed  no  sign  of  anger  or  restiveness  at  this 
rebuff.  With  infinite  patience,  Lincoln  did  his  best  to 
silence  criticism  of  McClellan,  while  he  essayed  by  all 
means  in  his  power  to  induce  the  General  to  move  the 
army,  that,  like  a  vast  holiday-making  pageant,  still  ate 
and  drank,  marched  to  and  fro,  and  maintained  a  brilliant 
show  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  The  only  sign  of  im- 
patience that  the  President  ever  showed  was  once,  when, 
a  movement  seeming  impossible,  he  grimly  said  :  "  If 
General  McClellan  has  no  use  for  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, I  should  like  to  borrow  it  for  a  little  while." 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  January,  1862,  Lincoln  had 


LETTER    TO  McCLELLAN.  345 

issued  an  order  specially  intended  to  direct  the  move- 
ments of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  which,  among 
other  things,  the  army  was  commanded  to  seize  upon  and 
occupy  a  point  on  the  railroad  southwest  of  Manassas 
Junction.  The  details  of  this  movement  were  to  be  left 
to  the  judgment  of  the  general  commanding.  To  this 
McClellan  demurred,  and,  in  a  long  letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  he  detailed  his  objections,  the  chief  of  which  was 
that  the  roads  would  be  bad  at  that  season  of  year.  He 
wished  that  the  movement,  if  it  were  undertaken,  should 
be  by  another  route — that  by  the  lower  Rappahannock, 
the  base  of  supplies  being  at  the  small  town  of  Urbana. 
Upon  this  line  he  could  throw  forward  somewhere  be- 
tween one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  and  one  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  troops  of  various  arms.  In  reply,  the 
President  addressed  a  letter  to  McClellan,  in  which  he 
said  that  he  would  gladly  yield  his  own  plan  to  that  of  the 
General's,  if  the  latter  would  give  a  satisfactory  answer  to 
the  following  questions : 

"  i.  Does  not  your  plan  involve  a  greatly  larger  expenditure 
of  time  and  money  than  mine  ? 

"  2.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  certain  by  your  plan  than 
mine  ? 

"  3.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  valuable  by  your  plan  than 
mine  ? 

"  4.  In  fact,  would  it  not  be  less  valuable  in  this  :  that  it 
would  break  no  great  line  of  the  enemy's  communications,  while 
mine  would  ? 

"5.  In  case  of  disaster,  would  not  a  retreat  be  more  difficult 
by  your  plan  than  mine  ?  " 


346  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

This  letter  was  ridiculed  by  some  of  the  military  critics, 
and  the  frequent  use  of  the  word  "  plan  "  was  specially  the 
butt  of  the  small  wits  of  the  day,  who  recalled  Lincoln's 
use  of  the  word  "  spot "  in  his  speech  on  the  President's 
message  to  Congress  concerning  the  Mexican  war,  while 
Lincoln  was  in  Congress,  years  before.  But  others  were 
convinced  that  the  good  sense  of  the  President  was  far 
more  valuable  than  the  masterly  inactivity  of  General 
McClellan.  The  General  again  demurred,  but  his  reply, 
addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  not  to  the  Presi- 
dent, was  not  satisfactory,  and  the  President  agreed  to 
submit  the  two  plans  to  a  council  of  war,  to  consist  of 
twelve  general  officers.  The  council  decided,  by  a  vote 
of  eight  to  four,  in  favor  of  McClellan's  plan,  and  Lincoln 
readily  acquiesced.  Information  of  these  debates  having 
reached  the  rebels,  they  withdrew  from  Manassas  to  the 
farther  side  of  the  Rappahannock,  thereby  rendering  both 
plans  useless.  By  this  time,  two  weeks  had  elapsed  since 
the  President's  order  directing  a  general  advance  of  all 
the  armies. 

After  the  enemy  had  abandoned  his  line  at  Manassas, 
McClellan  moved  forward  for  a  day  or  two,  but  almost 
immediately  after  returned  to  his  intrenched  position  at 
Alexandria,  on  the  Potomac,  near  Washington.  He  found 
that  every  possible  device  had  been  resorted  to  by  the 
rebels  tp  exaggerate  their  formidable  appearance,  while 
they  remained  at  Centreville,  near  Manassas,  wooden  guns 
being  among  these  appearances  of  defence  on  the  out- 
works. A  greatly  inferior  force  had  occupied  the  works 


DEATH   OF  THE  PRESIDENT'S  SON  WILLIE.       347 

all  winter,  while  McClellan,  distrustful  of  the  enemy,  had 
remained  quiet  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac. 

To  add  to  Lincoln's  trials  and  burthens,  he  was  at  this 
time  visited  by  great  domestic  affliction.  His  two  younger 
sons,  Willie  and  Thomas  (familiarly  known  as  "  Tad  "), 
were  stricken  by  disease.  The  younger  of  the  two, 
"  Tad,"  finally  rallied  and  recovered,  but  Willie,  a  bright 
and  beautiful  lad,  about  eleven  years  old,  died,  after  a 
few  days'  illness.  The  blow  was  heavy  and  hard  to  bear. 
Lincoln's  sorrowful  vigil  by  the  bedside  of  the  dying  boy 
was  often  interrupted  that  he  might  consider  pressing 
military  events. 

General  McClellan  was  now  in  the  field,  and  on  the 
eleventh  of  March  he  was  relieved  from  command  of 
other  departments  of  military  activity,  and  was  left  in 
sole  and  immediate  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, of  which  he  said,  in  one  of  his  famous  bulletins: 
"  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  now  a  real  army — magnifi- 
cent in  material,  admirable  in  discipline,  excellently 
equipped  and  armed.  Your  commanders  are  all  that  I 
could  wish." 

The  change  of  front  by  the  rebels  made  necessary  a 
change  of  the  base  of  operations  of  the  federal  forces,  and  a 
council  of  war,  held  by  direction  of  the  President,  decided 
that  the  new  base  should  be  at  Fortress  Monroe,  at  the 
mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  In  the  meantime,  the  fight 
between  the  iron-clad  rebel  Merrimac  and  the  federal  Mon- 
itor had  taken  place  near  Fortress  Monroe,  the  former 
having  been  beaten  back  to  Norfolk,  where  she  had  been 


348  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

built  at  the  abandoned  federal  navy-yard  from  the  hull 
of  a  frigate.  The  new  plan  of  operations  proposed  certain 
conditions  that  should  keep  the  rebel  ram  in  check.  It 
also  proposed  that  a  force  large  enough  to  protect  Wash- 
ington should  be  left  near  Manassas. 

A  great  fleet  of  transports  was  provided  for  McClellan 
to  move  his  troops,  in  case  any  new  base,  or  other  change 
of  plan,  should  be  deemed  necessary.  There  was  much 
alarm  felt  in  Washington  as  to  the  smallness  of  the 
force  left  for  the  defence  of  the  national  capital,  but 
McClellan,  in  his  anxiety  to  collect  an  immense  army  for 
his  offensive  operations,  was  not  inclined  to  spare  a  larger 
force  for  defensive  purposes.  His  immediate  field  of  opera- 
tions was  on  the  peninsula  formed  by  the  York  and  James 
rivers.  The  enemy  were  behind  a  line  of  intrenchments 
that  stretched  across  the  peninsula,  the  key  of  the  situa- 
tion being  Yorktown,  on  this  line.  McClellan  unaccount- 
ably delayed  any  active  operations  against  this  line  of 
defence.  On  the  third  of  April,  the  President  ordered 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  direct  McClellan  to  begin  active 
operations;  but  he  demurred,  and  said  to  the  President, 
in  a  letter  dated  on  the  fifth  of  that  month,  that  he  was 
sure  that  the  enemy  was  in  large  force  in  front  of  him, 
behind  formidable  works.  He  added :  "  I  am  of  the  opinion 
I  shall  have  to  fight  all  the  available  force  of  the  rebels 
not  far  from  here."  He  wanted  more  men. 

Lincoln  was  overwhelmed  and  in  despair  at  this  delay, 
so  inexplicable  and  apparently  so  inexcusable.  He  was 
confident  that  General  McClellan  exaggerated  the  strength 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS  ON  THE  PENINSULA.     349 

of  the  force  in  front  of  him,  and  he  besought  Secretary 
Stanton  to  hurry  forward  every  thing  that  McClellan 
seemed  to  think  needful  to  insure  the  safety  of  an  ad- 
vance of  the  federal  army.  It  afterwards  transpired 
that  the  rebel  force  was  only  about  9,300  effective  men. 
In  a  report  subsequently  made  to  the  Richmond  govern- 
ment, by  the  rebel  general,  Magruder,  he  said  :  "  With  five 
thousand  men,  exclusive  of  the  garrisons,  we  stopped  and 
held  in  check  over  one  hundred  thousand  of  the  enemy. 
To  my  surprise,  he  [McClellan]  permitted  day  after  day 
to  elapse  without  any  assault." 

The  line  held  by  the  rebels  was  about  thirteen  miles 
long.  Much  of  the  force  behind  that  line  was  scattered 
to  defend  points  in  the  rear.  McClellan,  with  his  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  sat  down  deliberately  and  began, 
with  shovels  and  picks,  a  regular  siege.  On  the  9th  of 
April,  1862,  Lincoln  wrote  him  a  letter  full  of  kindly  feel- 
ing, but  remonstrating  with  him  for  his  unaccountable 
reluctance  to  move.  The  following  extracts  will  show  the 
gentleness  and  admirable  temper  of  the  President : 

"  I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  had  gone  forward  to  you 
is  with  you  by  this  time,  and  if  so,  I  think  that  it  is  the  pre- 
cise time  for  you  to  strike  a  blow.  By  delay,  the  enemy  will 
relatively  gain  upon  you — that  is,  he  will  gain  faster  by  fortifi- 
cations and  reinforcements  than  you  can  by  reinforcements 
alone  ;  and  once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  to 
you  that  you  strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  remember  I  always  insisted  that  going 
down  the  bay  in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  near 
Manassas,  was  only  shifting,  not  surmounting,  the  difficulty. 


350  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

.  .  .  The  country  will  not  fail  to  note — and  it  is  now 
noting — that  the  present  hesitation  to  move  upon  an  intrenched 
enemy  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated.  I  beg  to  assure 
you  I  have  never  written  ...  in  greater  kindness,  nor 
with  a  fuller  purpose  to  sustain  you,  so  far  as  in  my  most  anx- 
ious judgment  I  consistently  can.  But  you  must  act." 

In  answer  to  McClellan's  importunate  call  for  more 
troops,  the  President  yielded  and  sent  him  General  Frank- 
lin's division,  which  had  been  retained  to  defend  the  line 
between  Richmond  and  Washington.  So,  on  the  I3th  of 
April,  McClellan's  army,  according  to  official  reports,  had 
130,378  men,  of  whom  1 12,392  were  effective.  According 
to  McClellan's  letters  to  the  War  Department,  he  was 
now  "  confident  of  results,"  and  was  "  getting  up  the 
heavy  guns,  mortars,  and  ammunition  quite  rapidly." 
Still  he  complained  of  "  heavy  rains  and  horrid  roads," 
but  he  was  "  making  progress  all  the  time,"  and  soon 
would  "  be  at  them."  At  this  time,  too,  he  called  for 
Parrott  guns,  to  the  infinite  consternation  of  the  Presi- 
dent, who  wrote  him,  on  the  1st  of  May:  "  Your  call  for 
Parrott  guns  from  Washington  alarms  me — chiefly  because 
it  argues  indefinite  procrastination.  Is 'any  thing  to  be 
done  ?  " 

Nothing  was  done,  and,  on  the  25th  of  May,  Lincoln 
telegraphed  to  McClellan  :  "  I  think  the  time  is  near 
at  hand  when  you  must  either  attack  Richmond  or  give 
up  the  job,  and  come  to  the  defence  of  Washington." 
Meanwhile,  the  rebels,  disconcerted  by  the  arrival  of  fresh 
troops,  and  beginning  to  fear  an  attack,  abandoned  their 


A    PLAN    TO  RE-ORGANIZE    THE  ARMY.  35 1 

line  across  the  peninsula  and  retreated  up  to  their  second 
line  of  works.  On  the  2ist  of  June,  McClellan,  from  his 
camp  in  the  field,  wrote  to  the  President,  asking  permis- 
sion to  address  him  on  the  subject  of  "  The  present  state 
of  military  affairs  throughout  the  whole  country."  The 
President,  with  his  unfailing  good-nature,  replied  :  "  If  it 
would  not  divert  your  time  and  attention  from  the  army 
under  your  command,  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  your  views 
on  the  present  state  of  military  affairs  throughout  the 
whole  country." 

Another  cause  of  disagreement  between  Lincoln  and  Mc- 
Clellan was  the  organization  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
into  corps.  The  corps  were  not  of  McClellan's  choosing.  He 
applied  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  permission  to  suspend 
the  organization  and  to  re-organize  them.  It  was  well 
known  that  the  three  corps  commanders,  Sumner,  Heint- 
zelman,  and  Keyes,  were  not  favorites  with  General  McClel- 
lan. His  plan  of  re-organization  was  to  drop  them  out  of 

* 

their  commands.  On  this  point  Lincoln  wrote  to  Mc- 
Clellan, and,  in  a  very  frank  and  friendly  letter,  expressed 
his  opinion  of  McClellan's  new  scheme.  He  said,  among 
other  things : 

"  I  ordered  the  army-corps  organization  not  only  on  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  twelve  generals  of  division,  but  also  on 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  every  military  man  I  could  get  an 
opinion  from,  and  every  modern  military  book,  yourself  only 
excepted.  Of  course,  I  did  not,  on  my  own  judgment,  pretend 
to  understand  the  subject.  I  now  think  it  indispensable  for 
you  to  know  how  your  struggle  against  it  is  regarded  in  quar- 
ters which  we  cannot  entirely  disregard.  It  is  looked  upon  as 


352  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

merely  an  effort  to  pamper  one  or  two  pets,  and  to  persecute 
and  degrade  their  supposed  rivals.  I  have  no  word  from 
Sumner,  Heintzelman,  or  Keyes.  The  commanders  of  these 
corps  are,  of  course,  the  highest  officers  with  you.  But  I  am 
constantly  told  that  you  have  no  consultation  or  communica- 
tion with  them,  that  you  consult  and  communicate  with 
nobody  but  Fitz  John  Porter,  and  perhaps  General  Franklin. 
I  do  not  say  that  these  complaints  are  true  or  just  ;  but,  at  all 
events,  it  is  proper  that  you  should  know  of  their  existence." 

After  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  McClellan  decided  not 
to  make  the  change  in  the  organization  of  the  army  which 
he  had,  up  to  that  time,  urged  was  very  essential.  He 
created  two  additional  and  "  provisional  "  corps,  one  of 
which  was  to  be  commanded  by  Fitz  John  Porter  and  the 
other  by  Franklin,  the  two  generals  whom  Lincoln  had 
mentioned  as  "  pets  "  to  be  pampered  at  the  expense  of 
their  supposed  rivals. 

It  was  during  a  brief  sojourn  at  Fortress  Monroe  that 
an  affecting  incident  then  occurred.  One  day,  Lincoln, 
to  beguile  the  tedium  of  waiting,  took  up  a  volume  of  his 
favorite,  Shakespeare,  and  read  aloud  to  General  Wool's 
aide,  Colonel  Cannon,  who  chanced  to  be  near  him,  several 
passages  from  "  Hamlet  "  and  "  Macbeth  "  ;  then,  after 
reading  from  the  third  act  of  "  King  John,"  he  closed  the 
book  and  recalled  the  lament  of  Constance  for  her  boy, 
beginning  : 

"  And,  father  cardinal,  I  have  heard  you  say 

That  we  shall  see  and  know  our  friends  in  heaven 
If  that  be  true,  I  shall  see  my  boy  again." 

The  words,  he   said,  had   reminded  him  of  the  many 


THE  PRESIDENT  AT  FORTRESS  MONROE.         353 

times  when,  as  in  a  vision,  he  seemed  to  see  his  lost  boy 
near  him  ;  yet  he  knew  the  dream  must  fade.  So  saying, 
he  bowed  his  face  in  his  hands  and  silently  wept. 

To  go  back  a  little  in  this  chapter  of  military  history, 
in  which  Lincoln  was  so  deeply  interested.  On  account 
of  the  rebel  occupation  of  Norfolk,  and  the  dread  of  the 
rebel  ram  Merrimac,  lying  there  ready  for  a  sortie  at  any 
time,  the  line  of  the  James  River  was  impracticable 
for  federal  naval  vessels.  The  capture  of  Norfolk  and 
the  destruction  of  the  ram  were  indispensable.  The  Pres- 
ident went  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and,  after  a  consultation 
with  General  Wool,  there  commanding,  an  expedition  was 
fitted  out  against  Norfolk.  As  Lincoln  subsequently  re- 
lated to  General  Garfield  how  this  was  an  effectual  move- 
ment, the  account,  written  by  Garfield,  may  as  well  be 
transcribed  here : 

"  By  the  way,  Garfield,  do  you  know  that  Chase,  Stanton, 
General  Wool,  and  I  had  a  campaign  of  our  own  ?  We  went 
down  to  Fortress  Monroe  in  Chase's  revenue  cutter,  and  con- 
sulted with  Admiral  Goldsborough  on  the  feasibility  of  taking 
Norfolk  by  landing  on  the  north  shore  and  making  a  march  of 
eight  miles.  The  Admiral  said  there  was  no  landing  on  that 
shore,  and  we  should  have  to  double  the  cape,  and  approach 
the  place  from  the  south  side,  which  would  be  a  long  journey 
and  a  difficult  one.  I  asked  him  if  he  had  everjried  to  find  a 
landing,  and  he  replied  that  he  had  not.  I  then  told  him  a 
story  of  a  fellow  in  Illinois  who  had  studied  law,  but  had  never 
tried  a  case.  He  was  sued,  and,  not  having  confidence  in  his 
ability  to  manage  his  own  case,  employed  a  lawyer  to  manage 
it  for  him.  He  had  only  a  confused  idea  of  the  meaning  of 
law  terms,  but  was  anxious  to  make  a  display  of  learning,  and, 


354  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

on  the  trial,  constantly  made  suggestions  to  his  lawyer,  who 
paid  but  little  attention  to  him.  At  last,  fearing  that  his  law- 
yer was  not  handling  the  opposing  counsel  very  well,  he  lost 
all  his  patience,  and  springing  to  his  feet  cried  out  :  '  Why 
don't  you  go  at  him  with  a  capias  or  a  surre-butter  or  some- 
thing, and  not  stand  there  like  a  confounded  old  nudum- 
pactum  ? '  '  Now,  Admiral,'  said  I,  '  if  you  don't  know  that 
there  is  no  landing  on  the  north  shore,  I  want  you  to  find  out.' 
The  admiral  took  the  hint  ;  and  taking  Chase  and  Wool 
along,  with  a  company  or  two  of  marines,  he  went  on  a  voyage 
of  discovery,  and  Stanton  and  I  remained  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
That  night  we  went  to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep,  for  we  were  very 
anxious  for  the  fate  of  the  expedition.  About  two  o'clock  the 
next  morning  I  heard  the  heavy  tread  of  Wool  ascending  the 
stairs.  I  went  out  into  the  parlor  and  found  Stanton  hugging 
Wool  in  the  most  enthusiastic  manner,  as  he  announced  that 
he  had  found  a  landing  and  had  captured  Norfolk." 

The  greater  part  of  the  month  of  June,  1862,  was  spent 
by  the  army  under  McClellan  in  fighting,  advancing,  re- 
treating, and  in  various  manoeuvres  not  readily  under- 
stood, even  at  this  distance  of  time.  At  one  time  a  por- 
tion of  the  troops  was  within  four  miles  of  Richmond 
without  meeting  any  considerable  force  of  the  enemy. 
The  rebels  had  sent  reinforcements  to  that  part  of  their 
army  that  was  threatening  Washington,  and,  alarmed  by 
these  demonstrations  on  the  peninsula,  they  began  to  col- 
lect troops  to  worry  McClellan,  whose  failure  to  attempt 
any  serious  attack  was  to  them  inexplicable.  On  the 
twenty-seventh  of  June  he  announced  his  intention  to  re- 
treat to  the  James  River,  and,  in  an  extraordinary  letter 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  he  said  :  "  If  I  save  this  army,  I 


McCLELLAN'S  ADVICE    TO    THE  PRESIDENT.      355 

tell  you  plainly  I  owe  you  no  thanks,  nor  to  any  one  at 
Washington.  You  have  done  your  best  to  destroy  this 
army." 

Lincoln  was  greatly  disturbed  by  the  insulting  and  un- 
just tone  of  this  despatch.  It  was  a  severe  tax  on  his 
patience  to  be  told  by  a  subordinate  officer  that  he,  the 
President,  who  had  strained  all  the  resources  at  his  com- 
mand to  meet  the  demands  of  McClellan,  had  virtually 
done  nothing  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  army, 
harassed  by  the  rebel  forces  hanging  on  its  rear,  and  oc- 
casionally turning  at  bay,  retreated  to  Malvern  Hill,  and 
the  ignoble  campaign  of  the  peninsula  was  over. 

By  this  time  it  had  been  understood  by  the  politicians 
of  the  Northern  States  that  McClellan  was  the  candidate 
of  that  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  which  was  dissa- 
tisfied with  the  war  and  with  the  emancipation  measures 
then  under  contemplation.  Accordingly,  on  the  seventh 
of  July,  writing  to  the  President  from  Harrison's  Landing, 
McClellan  addressed  Lincoln  at  great  length,  not  on  the 
general  conduct  of  the  war,  but  upon  the  general  conduct 
of  the  administration.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
McClellan  was  yet  a  young  man,  not  thirty-seven  years  of 
age.  Excepting  his  brief  and  spirited  campaign  in  West- 
ern Virginia,  he  had  had  no  active  military  experience, 
but,  as  a  civil  and  military  engineer,  he  had  seen  service. 
He  had  had  very  little  to  do  with  politics  or  statesman- 
ship, and  had  gained  his  highest  renown  as  the  president 
of  a  railroad  corporation  before  the  war  began.  But  he 
had  now  the  temerity  to  offer  advice  and  instruction  to 


356  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

President  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet,  and  to  solve,  in  his  camp 
on  the  James,  problems  in  statecraft  that  seemed  to  the 
wisest  men  in  the  world  almost  impossible  of  solution. 

To  Lincoln  he  said  :  "  Let  neither  military  disaster, 
political  faction,  nor  foreign  war  shake  your  settled  pur- 
pose to  enforce  the  equal  operation  of  the  laws  upon  the 
people  of  every  State."  Then,  after  advising  him  as  to 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  the  General  said  :  "  Neither  con- 
fiscation of  property,  political  executions  of  persons,  terri- 
torial organizations  of  States,  or  forcible  abolition  of 
slavery  should  be  contemplated  for  one  moment."  Then, 
as  if  by  way  of  threat,  he  said  that  unless  his  views 
"  should  be  made  known  and  approved,  the  effort  to  ob- 
tain the  requisite  forces  will  be  almost  hopeless.  A  dec- 
laration of  radical  views,  especially  upon  slavery,  will 
rapidly  disintegrate  our  present  armies." 

This  amazing  communication,  addressed  to  the  Presi- 
dent from  a  General  who  had  just  shown  his  incom- 
petence to  command  an  army  engaged  in  offensive  opera- 
tions, did  not  anger  the  patient  and  much-enduring 
President.  He  was  discouraged  and  profoundly  de- 
pressed. Possibly  he  would  have  removed  McClellan  at 
this  time,  as  he  was  importuned  to  do  by  many  who  re- 
flected the  impatience  of  the  whole  country  at  the  dila- 
toriness  that  had  characterized  the  operations  against  the 
rebel  capital  and  its  lines  of  communication.  In  order  to 
see  for  himself  what  was  the  condition  of  the  army,  Lin- 
coln visited  the  head-quarters  of  General  McClellan  at  Har- 
rison's Landing,  on  the  seventh  of  July.  Guided  by  the 


HALLECK  MADE    GENERAL-IN-CHIEF.  357 

General,  he  examined  the  rosters  of  the  troops,  the  re- 
ports of  the  chiefs  of  divisions,  and  the  records  which 
showed  the  effectiveness  of  the  forces  under  the  command 
of  General  McClellan.  It  was  the  President's  judgment 
that  the  army  should  be  recalled  to  Washington,  and 
in  this  conclusion  he  was  supported  by  the  corps  com- 
manders. To  this  McClellan  was  opposed.  He  was  unwill- 
ing to  abandon  the  campaign  so  auspiciously  begun  and 
so  ignobly  concluded.  He  wanted  Burnside's  army,  then 
operating  in  North  Carolina,  sent  to  him  ;  and,  with 
large  reinforcements,  he  was  confident  of  achieving  success, 
although  it  was  now  evident  that  he  had  failed  more  than 
once  to  take  advantage  of  the  chances  offered  him  to  as- 
sault Richmond  on  this  line  of  attack. 

Returning  to  Washington  and  calling  for  the  records 
of  the  War  Department  that  showed  the  number  of 
troops  sent  to  McClellan  in  answer  to  his  importunate 
demands,  Lincoln  found  that  McClellan  had  had  one 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men  with  him.  He  wrote  to 
the  General  reminding  him  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  other 
fact,  that  when  he  visited  the  General;  a  few  days  before, 
he  found  that  there  were  only  eighty-six  thousand  effec- 
tive men  on  duty.  Making  liberal  allowance  for  death 
by  disease  and  in  battle,  and  for  the  sick  and  wounded, 
fifty  thousand  men  yet  remained  to  be  accounted  for. 
Where  were  these  fifty  thousand?  In  reply,  McClellan 
said  38,250  men  were  absent  "by  authority."  And  yet 
McClellan  complained  of  his  lack  of  men,  and  of  the  fail- 
ure to  give  him  the  army  of  Burnside,  or  of  some  other 


THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

general,  operating  in  other  and  more  distant  parts  of  the 
republic. 

Lincoln  felt  the  need  of  a  military  adviser  who  should  be 
always  at  hand  and  readily  accessible.  The  successes  of 
the  generals  in  the  Western  part  of  the  republic,  contrast- 
ing as  they  did  with  the  humiliating  failures  of  the  cam- 
paigns around  Washington  and  in  Virginia,  suggested  the 
designation  of  some  one  of  these  men  to  the  post  to  be 
created.  General  H.  W.  Halleck  accordingly  was  called  to 
Washington,  on  the  I  ith  of  July,  with  the  rank  and  title  of 
General-in-Chief.  Another  Western  general  called  to  the 
East  was  General  John  Pope,  whose  successes  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  had  given  him  fame.  General  Pope 
took  command  of  a  new  military  organization  of  three 
army  corps  commanded  by  Generals  Fremont,  Banks, 
and  McDowell.  This  was  known  as  the  Army  of  Virginia, 
and  its  creation  was  naturally  regarded  by  McClellan  and 
his  partisans  with  jealousy,  a  jealousy  that  was  heightened 
by  an  intemperate  and  indiscreet  address  issued  by  Pope 
on  taking  command.  In  this  address,  Pope  assumed  a 
tone  of  confidence  and  boasting  that  was  apparently  de- 
signed to  contrast  the  deeds  he  proposed  to  do  with  the 
failures  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  This  aroused  an 
intense  and  bitter  hostility  among  the  officers  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  greatly  vexed  and  disappointed 
Lincoln,  who,  from  that  moment,  was  apprehensive  that 
Pope  would  raise  up  enemies  against  himself  and  impair 
his  usefulness  as  a  soldier. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1862,  there  assembled  at  Altoona, 


A    CONFERENCE   OF  LOYAL   GOVERNORS.  359 

Perm.,  the  famous  conference  of  loyal  governors.  It 
was  a  meeting  of  the  governors  of  seventeen  States  to 
confer  on  the  best  means  for  supporting  the  President  in 
carrying  on  the  war.  They  united  in  an  address  to  the 
President,  assuring  him  of  the  readiness  of  the  States  to 
respond  to  calls  for  more  troops,  and  to  support  the  most 
vigorous  measures  for  carrying  on  the  war.  Thereupon 
the  President  issued  a  call  for  three  hundred  thousand 
men.  Notwithstanding  defeats  and  reverses,  delays 
and  sluggishness,  the  spirit  of  the  country  was  unbroken. 
It  was  felt  that  this  was  a  struggle  for  life  or  death. 

Pope's  command,  numbering  thirty-eight  thousand 
men,  was  employed  to  defend  Washington,  against  which 
point  Lee  was  now  advancing  with  a  large  force  of  the 
rebels.  Pope  was  also  to  hold  the  valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  in  which  active  and  aggressive  squadrons  of  rebel 
cavalry  were  manoeuvring.  If  McClellan  now  made  a 
bold  attack  on  Richmond  from  his  position  on  the 
James,  Lee's  attention  would  be  diverted  from  Pope,  and 
keep  him  on  the  defensive.  But  McClellan,  it  was 
evident,  could  not  be  expected  to  execute  any  such  move- 
ment. The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was,  accordingly, 
ordered  to  the  line  of  the  Potomac,  to  support  Pope. 
The  situation  was  full  of  peril.  Lee's  army  was  being 
massed  to  crush  Pope,  before  he  could  be  reinforced  by 
McClellan,  whose  forces  were  in  Virginia,  farther  from 
Washington  than  were  Lee's.  McClellan  was  repeatedly 
ordered  to  make  haste.  He  delayed  and  dallied,  as  if 
sullen  and  unwilling  to  obey  orders.  On  the  I3th 


360  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  July  he  was  ordered  to  send  away  his  sick  and  pre- 
pare for  his  return  to  the  Potomac.  He  waited,  and  on 
the  3d  of  August  he  was  directed  to  move  his  army 
to  Acquia  Creek,  a  small  stream  emptying  into  the  Po- 
tomac below  Washington.  He  remonstrated  and  said 
he  would  obey  "  as  soon  as  circumstances  would  permit." 
Again,  on  the  ninth  of  the  month,  General  Halleck,  at  the 
direction  of  the  President,  admonished  McClellan  of  the 
dangers  that  menaced  Pope,  and  told  him  that  he  must 
move  with  all  possible  celerity.  Next  day  Halleck  tele- 
graphed McClellan  that  the  rebels  had  crossed  the  Rapidan 
and  were  attacking  Pope ;  and  he  added :  "  There 
must  be  no  further  delay  in  your  movements."  Still  the 
tardy  and  slow-moving  McClellan  did  not  respond.  Fi- 
nally, on  the  23d  of  August,  he  sailed  from  Fortress 
Monroe,  arriving  at  Acquia  Creek  on  the  following  day, 
and  at  Alexandria  on  the  Potomac  on  the  2/th,  nearly 
one  month  after  receiving  his  orders. 

Meanwhile,  Pope  was  being  driven  towards  Washing- 
ton, assailed  in  turn  by  the  rebel  forces  under  Jackson, 
Longstreet,  and  Lee.  Not  one  of  McClellan's  trusted  and 
favorite  lieutenants  came  to  Pope's  relief,  although  they 
were  within  supporting  distance.  Fitz  John  Porter  heard 
the  guns  of  the  hardly  pressed  Pope,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  rebel  army  assailing  him  ;  he  knew  the  desperate  con- 
dition of  the  Army  of  Virginia.  He  refused  to  go  to  its 
relief.  For  this  he  was  tried  by  a  military  court,  found 
guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be  dismissed  from  the  army. 
The  President  approved  this  sentence. 


PARTY  DISSENSIONS.  361 

Pope  was  driven  back  upon  Washington.  His  humilia- 
tion was  complete.  The  army  was  torn  by  dissensions 
and  cabals.  Party  spirit  ran  high,  not  only  in  Congress 
and  in  the  country,  but  in  the  camps  around  Washington 
and  in  Virginia.  In  the  field  were  disaster  and  defeat.  In 
the  cabinet,  divided  counsels  ;  and  in  Congress,  virulent 
and  heated  debate,  and  a  growing  opposition  to  the  war, 
with,  now  and  again,  a  recommendation  that  terms  for 
peace  be  offered  to  the  rebel  government.  It  was  a  dark 
and  gloomy  time.  Lincoln,  alone  in  his  sublime  trust  in 
God  and  in  the  righteousness  of  the  cause  of  the  federal 
Union,  did  not  hesitate  to  manifest  his  unshaken  belief 
in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  federal  arms  and  in  the 
power  of  the  people  to  quell  the  slave-holders'  rebellion. 
Men  who  listened  to  him,  in  those  days  of  peril,  went 
away  marvelling  at  his  patience,  fortitude,  and  courage. 

Once  more  McClellan  had  an  opportunity  offered  him 
to  achieve  a  great  success.  Yielding  to  what  seemed  a 
military  necessity,  Lincoln  placed  him  at  the  head  of  a 
newly  re-organized  army.  He  now  had  under  him  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  remnants  of  Pope's  Army  of 
Virginia,  and  the  forces  brought  from  North  Carolina  by 
General  Burnside.  To  these  were  added  reinforcements 
from  the  raw  levies,  making  the  force  under  McClellan 
the  largest  that  had  ever  been  massed  together  in  one 
army — more  than  two  hundred  thousand,  all  told.  If 
ever  "  the  young  Napoleon  "  was  to  win  laurels,  this  was 
his  time  and  opportunity.  But  he  seemed  impatient  and 
discontented  that  any  troops  should  be  under  a  command 


32  THF  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

separate  from  his  own.  He  wished  that  the  force  retained 
in  the  defence  of  Washington  should  be  sent  to  him,  say- 
ing that  the  capture  of  Washington  would  not  be  so  great 
a  calamity  to  the  country  as  a  single  defeat  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  He  asked  that  the  twelve  thousand 
troops  holding  Harper's  Ferry  should  be  sent  to  him,  and 
when  told  that  if  he  would  open  communications  with 
that  point,  Harper's  Ferry  would  be  included  in  his  com- 
mand, he  failed  to  take  the  necessary  steps,  although  he 
knew  that  a  rebel  force  was  marching  against  Harper's 
Ferry.  He  delayed,  did  not  seize  the  precious  opportu- 
nity to  strike  at  Lee's  army  while  it  was  divided,  and  did 
not  relieve  Harper's  Ferry,  which,  on  the  I5th  of  Septem- 
ber, surrendered  to  the  rebels. 

Lee,  meantime,  was  advancing  into  Maryland,  and  it 
became  absolutely  imperative  that  he  should  be  checked. 
McClellan,  finally  roused,  but  one  day  too  late,  attacked 
Lee,  and  the  bloody  battle  of  Antietam  was  fought,  Sep- 
tember i /th.  The  rebels  were  thoroughly  whipped,  and 
began  a  sullen  retreat  across  the  Potomac.  It  would  ap- 
pear that  McClellan  might  have  followed,  one  entire  corps 
of  his  army  not  having  been  in  the  fight.  But  he  remained 
where  he  was,  and  called  for  more  reinforcements.  This 
amazing  demand,  following  the  delay  to  move,  alarmed 
the  President,  and  he  made  a  personal  visit  to  the  army 
to  see  for  himself  how  affairs  stood.  On  his  return  to 
Washington  he  issued  an  order,  dated  October  6,  1862, 
through  General  Halleck,  directing  McClellan  to  "  cross 
the  Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the  enemy  or  drive  him 


INACTIVITY  OF  McCLELLAN.  363 

south."  This  order  McClellan  declined  to  obey.  On  the 
tenth  of  that  month,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  a  dashing  rebel  cav- 
alry officer,  crossed  the  Potomac,  going  as  far  north  as 
Chambersburg,  Penn.,  which  he  raided,  and  made  the  en- 
tire circuit  of  McClellan's  army  before  he  re-crossed  into 
Virginia, 

A  few  days  after  this  daring  exploit,  which  McClellan  had 
confidently  predicted  would  end  in  his  "  bagging  "  the  whole 
of  Stuart's  command,  Lincoln  wrote  a  long  and  friendly  let- 
ter to  McClellan,  in  which  he  begged  for  a  forward  move- 
ment, arguing  the  case  from  a  military  point  of  view  with 
much  acuteness.  Still  McClellan  did  not  move.  He  com- 
plained that  his  horses  were  fatigued,  and  had  the  sore 
tongue.  Lincoln  could  not  help  asking  what  his  cavalry 
had  done  since  the  battle  of  Antietam,  fought  more  than 
a  month  before,  that  they  should  be  fatigued.  McClellan 
showed  that  he  resented  this  home  thrust,  and  Lincoln, 
ready  to  plead  his  own  desire  to  be  exactly  just,  wrote  to 
the  General  to  say  that  he  was  very  sorry  if  he  had  done 
the  General  any  injustice.  He  added,  however :  "To be 
told,  after  five  weeks'  total  inactivity  of  the  army,  and 
during  which  period  we  had  sent  to  that  army  every  fresh 
horse  we  possibly  could,  amounting  in  the  whole  to  7,918, 
that  the  cavalry  horses  were  too  much  fatigued  to  move, 
presented  a  cheerless,  almost  hopeless,  prospect  for  the 
future."  It  may  be  added  to  this  that  the  winter  was 
now  close  at  hand,  when  active  operations  in  the  field, 
always  difficult,  would  be  impossible  under  McClellan's 
command. 


THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Finally,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1862,  just  one  month 
after  the  order  to  cross  had  been  issued,  the  army  did  cross 
the  Potomac.  By  this  time,  of  course,  the  rebels,  recov- 
ering from  their  defeat  at  Antietam,  were  ready  for  battle 
or  for  a  retreat.  It  was  too  late.  General  McClellan  was 
relieved  from  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on 
the  fifth  of  November,  and  was  ordered  to  Trenton,  New 
Jersey.  His  military  career  was  closed,  and  we  hear  no 
more  of  him  until  he  emerged,  in  1864,  as  the  presidential 
candidate  of  the  Democratic  party. 

This  long  and  interesting  chapter  of  military  history  is 
valuable  as  showing  forth  the  patience,  forbearance,  and 
sagacity  of  Lincoln.  Again  and  again,  he  was  urged  by 
the  impatient  and  fiery  spirits  around  him  to  remove 
McClellan  and  subject  him  to  trial  by  court-martial  for 
disobedience  of  orders.  Even  those  who  did  not  advise 
these  extreme  measures  with  the  General,  counselled  the 
President  to  withdraw  McClellan  from  command.  But 
Lincoln  knew  that  many  of  the  subordinate  commanders 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  warm  champions  of 
McClellan's  military  genius,  believers  in  his  mysterious 
power  to  win  great  victories.  They  would  support  any 
other  commander  with  lukewarmness,  if  they  supported 
him  at  all.  There  was  no  such  rigid  and  severe  discipline 
in  the  Union  army  as  exists  in  the  military  organizations 
of  European  states.  Military  councils  were  something 
in  the  nature  of  condensed  town-meetings.  The  rank 
and  file  maintained  an  exchange  of  sentiment  and  judg- 
ment that  corresponded  exactly  to  the  public  opinion  of 


McCLELLAN  RELIEVED   OF  HIS  COMMAND.         365 

towns,  cities,  and  other  communities.  The  country  was 
slow  to  give  up  its  faith  in  the  young  General,  who,  in  the 
very  opening  of  the  war,  achieved  military  successes  in 
Western  Virginia  and  won  for  himself  a  name  before 
other  men  had  had  a  chance  to  distinguish  themselves. 
Lincoln  was  reluctant  to  rouse  animosities  and  harsh 
judgments  by  a  removal  of  McClellan  while  he  yet  had 
a  chance  to  retrieve  himself.  He  remained  to  encour- 
age popular  and  military  confidence.  It  was  not  until 
McClellan  had,  so  to  speak,  worn  out  his  reputation,  that 
he  was  removed. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE   TURNING   OF   THE   TIDE. 

The  Battle  of  Fredericksburg  —  Rise  of  the  Peace  Party  —  Factions  in  Con- 
gress —  The  Battle  of  Chancellorsville  —  A  Conscription  Ordered  and 
Martial  Law  Declared  —  Colored  Troops  Enlisted  —  Great  Financial 
Measures  Afoot  —  Vallandjgham's  Expulsion  and  Return  —  Growth  of 
the  Anti-War  Sentiment  —  Fall  of  Vicksburg  and  Battle  of  Gettysburg 

—  Popular  Rejoicings  —  The  President's  Proclamation  of  Thanksgiving 

—  Draft  Riots  in  New  York  —  Lincoln's  Address  on  the  Field  of  Get- 
tysburg —  Grant  and  Sherman  in  the  West. 


ENERAL  AMBROSE  E.  BURNSIDE  succeeded 
McClellan  as  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. General  Burnside  was  a  graduate  of  the  United 
States  Military  Academy,  but  had  been,  like  his  prede- 
cessor, engaged  in  other  pursuits  than  that  of  the  military 
service,  before  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion- 
He  was  "every  inch  a  soldier"  in  appearance,  of  fine 
figure  and  address,  amiable,  loyal,  and  patriotic.  He 
undertook  the  command  of  the  army  with  many  misgiv- 
ings. McClellan's  favorite  generals,  it  was  probable, 
would  not  support  him  with  cordiality,  and,  although  he 
had  proved  his  ability  while  handling  a  corps,  as  at  the 
battle  of  Antietam,  he  took  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  with  diffidence.  Assuring  himself,  as  far  as  he 

366 


THE   BATTLE    OF  FREDERICKSBURG.  367 

was  able,  of  the  co-operation  of  his  comrades  in  arms,  he 
assumed  command,  after  much  persuasion,  on  the  ninth 
of  November,  just  at  the  beginning  of  winter. 

At  the  outset,  there  was  a  disagreement  between 
Burnside,  Halleck,  and  Lincoln  as  to  the  best  line  of 
attack  upon  the  rebel  forces.  Burnside's  plan  was  to 
make  a  sudden  and  aggressive  movement  towards  Rich- 
mond by  the  way  of  Fredericksburg,  on  the  Rappa- 
hannock.  Halleck  preferred  the  line  reaching  through 
Gordonsville,  farther  to  the  west.  Lincoln  was  asked  to 
decide  between  the  two.  Inclined  as  he  was  to  defer  to 
the  judgment  of  the  general  who  was  to  conduct  the 
movement,  he  favored  Burnside's  plan.  Accordingly,  he 
went  over  the  situation  in  council  with  Halleck,  and  then 
wrote  to  Burnside  that  Halleck  approved  the  Fredericks- 
burg  route,  provided  Burnside  should  move  with  rapidity. 
Otherwise,  he  was  sure  that  that  route  would  not  be  the 
best.  Burnside's  army  was  directed  towards  Fredericks- 
burg,  but,  owing  to  a  delay  in  furnishing  him  with  the 
pontoons  required  for  crossing  the  river,  Lee  was  able 
to  occupy  and  fortify  the  heights  above  the  city,  and 
before  Burnside  was  ready  to  put  in  his  pontoon  bridges, 
he  was  confronted  with  Lee's  concentrated  army.  Burn- 
side  arrived  at  Falmouth,  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
Rappahannock,  November  ipth ;  his  pontoons  did  not 
arrive  until  the  25th.  The  attack  was  made,  in  the  face 
of  difficulties  almost  hopeless  to  overcome,  on  the  I5th 
of  December.  Lee  occupied  the  heights  above  Freder- 
icksburg, his  artillery  commanding  every  approach  from 


368  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  The  assault  was  made, 
however,  and,  as  many  despondent  military  critics  had 
predicted,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  repulsed  with 
frightful  slaughter.  It  was  a  great  disaster.  Washington 
was  filled  with  the  wounded,  who  were  brought  up  from 
the  base  at  Acquia  Creek,  on  the  Potomac,  and  the  hospi- 
tals, that  now  occupied  churches  and  other  public  build- 
ings at  the  capital,  were  crowded  with  the  wounded  and 
the  dying.  Congress  was  in  session,  and  the  politicians 
of  both  sides  were  alert  to  take  advantage  of  this  military 
reverse  to  press  their  several  policies  upon  the  attention 
of  the  President,  Congress,  and  the  country. 

The  year  closed  in  gloom.  The  rebels  had  succeeded 
in  scaring  McClellan  from  Richmond,  although  he  had 
been  within  a  few  miles  of  the  rebel  capital  at  one  time. 
They  had  inflicted  a  severe  blow  upon  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  under  Burnside  ;  previous  to  which  they  had,  so 
to  speak,  whipped  Pope  in  detail  while  he  was  left  to 
struggle  against  a  superior  force,  his  own  army  being 
unsupported  and  brought  up  in  sections  to  the  slaughter. 
Stonewall  Jackson  had  swept  the  valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  eluding  McDowell  and  Fremont  and  driving  Banks 
across  the  Potomac.  Nor  was  the  military  situation  in 
the  West  much  more  hopeful.  Buell  had  been  forced 
back  in  Kentucky,  and  the  rebel  general,  Bragg,  had  en- 
tered that  State  and  a  provisional  rebel  government  had 
been  organized  at  Frankfort,  the  capital  of  Kentucky,  an 
event  that  was  designed  to  encourage  the  rebel  element 
in  the  border  States  and  the  anti-Union  element  in  the 


RISE   OF   THE  PEACE  PARTY.  369 

North,  heretofore  somewhat  kept  under.  The  cities  of 
Louisville,  Kentucky;  and  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  were  men- 
aced, and  it  was  found  needful  to  fortify  them.  At  the 
end  of  December  the  combined  Union  forces  under  Gen- 
erals Sherman  and  McClernand  made  a  vigorous  assault 
upon  the  defences  of  Vicksburg,  that  city  still  holding 
the  Mississippi  for  the  rebels,  but  were  repulsed  with 
much  loss.  A  solitary  gleam  of  light  flashed  up  on  the 
closing  of  the  year,  when  Rosecrans  fought  the  battle  of 
Stone  River,  in  which  the  rebels  were  defeated  with  great 
loss,  but  were  able,  under  General  Bragg,  to  retreat  to 
the  southward. 

Meanwhile,  the  party  that  hoped  for  peace  on  some 
other  terms  than  those  of  the  overthrow  and  punishment 
of  the  rebels  had  been  gaining  ground.  When  the  mili- 
tary successes  of  the  Union  cause  were  pronounced,  these 
men  kept  silence.  As  soon  as  the  tide  of  war  went  with 
the  rebels,  the  clamor  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  and  an 
ending  of  the  sacrifice  of  life  in  battle  grew  loud.  Lincoln 
was  besieged,  on  the  one  hand,  with  demands  for  the  re- 
instatement of  McClellan  and  a  more  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  war,  and  on  the  other  with  importunities  for  an 
armistice,  or  truce,  during  which  negotiations  for  a  settle- 
ment should  be  carried  on.  There  was  another  class  who, 
while  calling  for  more  vigorous  tactics  on  the  part  of  the 
Administration,  were  eager  for  a  change  of  generals. 
Among  others,  General  Banks  was  represented  to  be  the 
favorite  for  whom  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  anxiously 
waiting.  The  Peace  Democrats,  as  they  were  called,  grew 


37°  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

more  and  more  importunate  for  some  attempt  at  settle- 
ment that  should  include  leaving  undisturbed  the  peculiar 
institution,  slavery. 

An  interesting  correspondence  between  Lincoln  and 
Fernando  Wood,  Mayor  of  New  York,  took  place  toward 
the  end  of  1862.  This  was  the  same  Wood  who,  when 
Lincoln  was  first  chosen  President,  had  advocated  the 
erection  of  New  York  into  a  free  city  and  its  neutrality  as 
a  belligerent.  He  now  informed  Lincoln  that  he  was 
credibly  informed  that  the  Southern  States  would  send 
representatives  to  Congress  and  resume  their  old-time 
relations,  provided  a  full  and  general  amnesty  were  pro- 
claimed. In  his  reply,  Lincoln  said  that  he  strongly  sus- 
pected that  Mr.  Wood's  information  would  prove  to  be 
without  foundation. 

"  Nevertheless,"  he  said,  "  1  thank  you  for  communicating  it 
to  me.  Understanding  the  phrase  in  the  paragraph  quoted, 
'  the  Southern  States  would  send  representatives  to  the  next 
Congress/  to  be  substantially  the  same  as  that  'the  people  of 
the  Southern  States  would  cease  resistance,  and  would  re- 
inaugurate,  submit  to,  and  maintain,  the  national  authority, 
within  the  limits  of  such  States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,'  I  say  that  in  such  case  the  war  would  cease  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  that,  if  within  a  reasonable 
time  a  full  and  general  amnesty  were  necessary  to  such  an  end, 
it  would  not  be  withheld." 

Wood  had  quoted  from  Lincoln's  inaugural  address  and 
to  this  had  added  many  arguments  and  protestations  of 
the  alleged  loyal  purposes  and  intentions  of  the  Southern 
people.  Lincoln  passed  by  all  these,  and,  returning  to 


FACTIONS  IN  CONGRESS.  371 

the  phrases  quoted  by  Wood  from  the  inaugural,  as  above, 
gave  these  as  the  only  reasonable  basis  on  which  any  hope 
of  an  amnesty  could  be  founded.  Lincoln  thought,  and 
said,  that  an  amnesty  would  be  forthcoming  when  the 
rebels  should  cease  to  resist  the  federal  authority,  not 
before.  Wood  urged  that  Lincoln  ought  to  verify,  if  pos- 
sible, the  statement  that  the  rebels  were  ready  to  consider 
terms  of  adjustment  and  peace.  This  could  only  be  done 
by  opening  a  correspondence  with  the  Southern  leaders. 
Meantime,  military  operations  must  cease.  To  this  Lin- 
coln had  but  one  reply :  it  was  not  the  time  to  stop  mili- 
tary operations  for  the  purpose  of  opening  negotiations. 
Here  the  correspondence  ended.  But  the  insistence  of  the 
Peace  Democrats  did  not  end  here.  With  varying  argu- 
ments and  in  various  keys,  they  continued  to  demand  a 
cessation  of  hostilities,  even  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

Congress  was  divided  into  factions.  The  cabinet  was 
not  wholly  harmonious.  The  loyal  press  of  the  country 
was  bitter  and  arrogant  in  its  criticisms  of  the  Administra- 
tion. Mr.  Greeley  declared  in  favor  of  foreign  interven- 
tion, and,  in  private  conversations,  reported  to  the  Presi- 
dent, deplored  the  fact  that  his  favorite  statesman,  Sec- 
retary Chase,  had  not  been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  long  before.  In  the  army  there  were 
mutterings  of  discontent.  General  Hooker  openly  derided 
Burnside  as  "  a  butcher,"  and  declared  that  he  had  fought 
the  battle  of  Fredericksburg  on  his  "  deportment."  Others 
of  the  army  began  to  say  that  the  country  needed  a  dic- 
tator, a  military  hero.  An  old  officer  of  the  army  was 


372  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

arrested  for  saying  publicly  that  the  army  of  the  Potomac, 
with  "  little  Mac  "  at  its  head,  should  "  clean  out  Congress 
and  the  White  House."  In  the  midst  of  these  disquieting 
and  depressing  scenes  and  rumors,  Lincoln  alone  was 
calm,  resolute,  and  uncomplaining.  He  never  for  an  in- 
stant relaxed  his  efforts  to  push  the  war;  never  faltered, 
even  in  the  face  of  what  seemed  inevitable  defeat.  To  a 
sympathizing  friend  who  asked  how  he  was  getting  on 
with  a  prosecution  of  the  war,  he  sadly  and  grimly  said : 
"Oh,  I  am  just  pegging  away."  And,  long  after,  when 
the  war  was  well-nigh  over,  and  another  friend  congratu- 
lated him  on  his  pluck  and  endurance  in  sticking  to  the 
work  when  all  seemed  hopeless,  he  said  :  "  Well,  there  was 
nothing  else  to  be  done." 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1863,  Lincoln  wrote  to  General 
Hooker  the  following  characteristic  letter : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  26,  1863. 
"Major-General  Hooker  : 

"  GENERAL — I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  Of  course  I  have  done  this  upon  what  appear 
to  me  to  be  sufficient  reasons,  and  yet  I  think  it  best  for  you 
to  know  that  there  are  some  things  in  regard  to  which  I  am 
not  satisfied  with  you.  I  believe  you  to  be  a  brave  and  skilful 
soldier,  which  of  course  I  like.  I  also  believe  that  you  do  not 
mix  politics  with  your  profession,  in  which  you  are  right.  You 
have  confidence  in  yourself,  which  is  a  valuable,  if  not  indis- 
pensable, quality.  You  are  ambitious,  which,  within  reason- 
able bounds,  does  good  rather  than  harm  ;  but  I  think  that 
during  General  Burnside's  command  of  the  army  you  have 
taken  counsel  of  your  ambition  and  thwarted  him  as  much  as 


LETTER    TO   GENERAL   HOOKER.  373 

you  could,  in  which  you  did  a  great  wrong  to  the  country  and 
to  a  most  meritorious  and  honorable  brother  officer.  I  have 
heard,  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe  it,  of  your  recently  saying 
that  both  the  army  and  the  government  needed  a  dictator. 
Of  course  it  was  not  for  this,  but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I  have 
given  you  the  command.  Only  those  generals  who  gain  suc- 
cess can  be  dictators.  What  I  now  ask  of  you  is  military  suc- 
cess, and  I  will  risk  the  dictatorship.  The  government  will 
support  you  to  the  utmost  of  its  ability,  which  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  it  has  done  and  will  do  for  all  commanders.  I 
much  fear  that  the  spirit  which  you  have  aided  to  infuse  into 
the  army,  of  criticising  their  commander  and  withholding  con- 
fidence from  him,  will  now  turn  upon  you.  I  shall  assist  you 
as  far  as  I  can  to  put  it  down.  Neither  you  nor  Napoleon,  if 
he  were  alive  again,  could  get  any  good  out  of  an  army  while 
such  a  spirit  prevails  in  it.  And  now,  beware  of  rashness.  Be- 
ware of  rashness,  but,  with  energy  and  sleepless  vigilance, 
go  forward  and  give  us  victories. 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"  A  LINCOLN." 

It  must  be  said  that  this  brotherly  and  almost  affection- 
ate letter,  while  it  was  appreciated  by  its  recipient,  did 
•not  strike  him  as  being  particularly  pertinent  and  well- 
deserved.  Just  before  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville, 
while  Lincoln  and  a  few  personal  friends  were  at  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  a  visit, 
General  Hooker  said  to  one  of  the  party,  in  the  privacy 
of  his  tent,  late  at  night :  "  I  suppose  you  have  seen  this 
letter,  or  a  copy  of  it  ?  "  The  gentleman  replied  that  he 
had,  and  Hooker,  with  that  magnificent  air  that  character- 
ized him,  said:  "After  I  have  been  to  Richmond  I  shall 
have  the  letter  published  in  the  newspapers.  It  will  be 


374  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

amusing."  When  this  was  told  to  Lincoln,  he  said,  with 
a  sigh  :  "  Poor  Hooker !  I  am  afraid  he  is  incorrigible." 

During  the  visit  above  referred  to,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  was  reported  to  be  ready  for  immediate  action. 
The  rosters  examined  by  the  President  showed  216,718 
men  on  the  rolls,  of  whom  16,000  were  on  detached  ser- 
vice;  1 36,720  were  in  active  duty,  1,771  absent  without 
authority,  26,000  sick,  and  the  actual  effective  force  was 
146,000,  which  number  could  be  increased  at  any  time  to 
169,000  by  calling  in  the  men  from  outlying  stations. 
The  reviews  held  during  the  President's  stay,  which  lasted 
for  a  whole  week,  were  the  last  that  were  had  before  the 
battle  of  Chancellorsville,  which  was  begun  late  in  April. 
During  the  reviews  the  President  rode  everywhere  with 
General  Hooker  and  his  staff,  accompanied  by  little  Tad, 
his  youngest  son,  who,  attended  by  an  orderly,  hung  on 
the  flanks  of  the  brilliant  cavalcade,  his  gray  cloak  flutter- 
ing in  the  wind.  Often  Lincoln  turned  his  face  anxiously 
in  the  direction  of  the  lad's  flight,  for  the  youngster  was 
a  fearless  rider. 

The  battle  of  Chancellorsville  was  another  and  yet 
more  crushing  disaster.  Up  to  a  certain  point,  all  went 
well  with  the  army ;  but,  that  being  reached,  the  plan  of 
campaign  seemed  to  crumble  and  nothing  further  was 
done.  There  was  some  delay  in  returning  the  army  to  the 
north  bank  of  the  Rappahannock  after  the  repulse  that 
nearly  had  ended  the  campaign.  No  news  reached  Wash- 
ington, and  an  expectation  that  Hooker  would  even  yet 
retrieve  the  admitted  disaster  was  entertained.  Lincoln 


BATTLE   OF  CHANCELLORSVILLE.  375 

clung  desperately  to  this  hope.  But  after  vainly  seeking 
for  information  from  the  army,  Lincoln  received,  early  in 
the  afternoon  of  May  6th,  a  despatch  from  General  But- 
terfield,  Hooker's  Chief  of  Staff,  announcing  that  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  had  safely  recrossed  the  Rappahan- 
nock  and  was  then  encamped  on  its  old  ground.  The 
President  seemed  stunned.  Taking  the  despatch  in  his 
hand,  he  passed  into  another  room  in  the  White  House, 
where  were  two  of  his  intimate  friends  who  had  been 
with  him  during  the  recent  inspection  of  the  army,  and 
handing  it  to  one  of  them,  he  said,  by  a  motion  of  his 
lips,  "  Read  it."  It  was  read  aloud,  and  Lincoln,  his  face 
ashy  gray  in  hue  and  his  eyes  streaming  with  tears,  finally 
ejaculated  :  "  My  God !  my  God !  what  will  the  country 
say?  What  will  the  country  say?"  He  refused  to  be 
comforted,  for  his  grief  was  great. 

Within  an  hour,  amidst  a  pouring  rain,  Lincoln,  accom- 
panied by  General  Halleck,  took  a  small  steamer  from 
the  Washington  navy-yard  and  was  on  his  way  to  the 
army,  by  the  way  of  Acquia  Creek.  The  wildest  rumors 
flew  around  the  capital ;  the  most  credible  being  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  had  resigned,  and  the  President  had 
gone  to  the  front  to  put  Halleck  in  command.  Neither 
of  these  things  were  true  ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  torn  and 
bleeding  Army  of  the  Potomac  could  be  reinforced  and 
recruited,  it  was  once  more  put  on  a  fighting  basis.  But, 
for  a  time,  the  losses  sustained  by  the  Union  army, 
about  ten  thousand  in  all,  and  the  disappointment  endured 
by  the  country,  seemed  to  plunge  every  loyal  element 


376  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

into  the  deepest  gloom,  both  in  the  camps  and  in  the 
towns. 

It  was  necessary  that  stringent  measures  for  the  calling 
out  of  the  available  forces  of  the  United  States  should  be 
taken.  A  law,  authorizing  a  conscription  or  draft,  was 
enacted,  being  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Democrats  in 
Congress.  Acting  under  the  provision  of  the  Constitu- 
tion permitting  it,  the  President  suspended  the  privileges 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  by  which  the  citizen,  de- 
prived of  his  liberty,  could  appeal  to  the  courts  for  an 
examination  into  his  case.  The  President,  under  the 
same  authority,  also  proclaimed  martial  law,  under  which 
any  offender  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  United 
States  could  be  tried  and  condemned  by  a  court  martial, 
without  the  privilege  of  appealing  to  the  civil  courts. 
These  acts,  severely  criticised  at  the  time,  were  justified 
by  what  are  called  the  war  powers  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  under  the  Constitution.  Conscription 
was  expected  to  fill  up  the  armies.  Martial  law  was  to 
arrest  and  hold  mischievous  and  traitorous  persons 
engaged  in  obstructing  the  draft,  or  otherwise  interfering 
with  the  operations  of  the  government.  The  suspension 
of  the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  made 
martial  law  practicable.  The  confiscation  of  rebel  proper- 
ty, authorized  by  Congress,  crippled  the  resources  of  the 
rebels,  particularly  on  the  border,  and  kept  in  check  their 
sympathizers  in  the  border  States.  Another  important 
act  was  the  authorizing  of  the  enlistment  of  negro  troops. 
All  of  these  measures  were  steadfastly  opposed  by  those 


COLORED    TROOPS  ENLISTED.  377 

who  had  opposed  the  war.  The  arming  of  the  ex-slaves, 
and  putting  upon  them  the  uniform  of  the  United  States, 
was  greeted  with  a  cry  of  rage  and  execration,  North  and 
South.  It  was  not  until,  somewhat  later  on,  it  was  found 
that  black  men  were  eligible  as  substitutes  for  white  men 
drafted  to  military  service,  that  the  clamor  against  arming 
the  blacks  subsided.  From  first  to  last,  the  number  of 
negro  troops  enlisted  in  the  war  was  178,975. 

Among  the  measures  passed  by  Congress  about  this 
time  was  one  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
to  borrow  money  to  carry  on  the  war.  The  total  amount 
which  he  was  given  leave  to  raise  on  the  obligations  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States  was  nine  hundred 
millions  of  dollars.  The  bonds  were  to  bear  six  per  cent, 
interest,  and  to  be  redeemed  in  not  less  than  ten  years 
nor  more  than  forty  years.  To  meet  the  pressing 
exigencies  of  the  times,  much  money  being  due  to  the 
soldiers  and  sailors,  the  Secretary  was  authorized  to  issue 
one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  in  United  States  Treasury 
notes.  When  the  President  signed  this  measure,  which 
he  did  promptly,  he  sent  to  Congress  a  message  in  which 
he  expressed  his  regret  that  so  large  an  amount  of  paper 
money  was  found  needful  to  be  issued.  He  had  already 
recommended  the  formation  of  national  banks,  with  a 
uniform  currency,  based  on  United  States  bonds,  to  be 
deposited  by  the  banks  with  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States.  These  and  other  financial  measures  were  regarded 
with  grave  concern  by  many  able  financiers.  The  finances 
of  the  country  were  in  a  disordered  condition.  Silver  and 


378  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

gold  had  disappeared  from  circulation.  Even  the  small 
change  needed  in  the  every-day  transactions  of  the 
people  was  now  of  paper.  At  first,  postage  stamps  were 
used  for  small  change,  and  the  word  "stamps"  was  uni- 
versally used  to  express  the  idea  of  money,  in  amounts 
large  or  small.  The  fractional  notes  subsequently  issued 
by  the  Treasury  Department  were  popularly  called  "  shin- 
plasters,"  and  the  opponents  of  the  war,  who  had  now 
also  become  opponents  and  enemies  of  the  public  credit, 
took  every  opportunity  to  weaken  the  faith  of  the  people 
in  the  circulation  of  government  paper  and  excite  derision 
concerning  these  issues. 

The  prices  of  every  thing  that  entered  into  the  daily 
uses  of  the  people  had  greatly  increased,  so  that  the  cost 
of  living  had  gone  far  above  real  values.  Artful  politi- 
cians fanned  the  flames  of  popular  discontent,  and  every 
imaginable  or  real  ill  was  charged  to  the  account  of  the 
war.  Even  the  law  permitting  drafted  men  to  hire  sub- 
stitutes or  escape  military  service  by  paying  an  exemption 
fine  of  three  hundred  dollars,  was  assailed  as  a  provision 
for  the  benefit  of  the  rich  and  the  oppression  of  the  poor. 
In  this  way  agitation  against  the  war  was  sedulously  re- 
commenced, and  meetings,  some  of  them  violent  and  al- 
most treasonable  in  tone,  were  held  in  various  parts  of  the 
country.  In  the  Western  States  there  were  formed  secret 
societies  for  the  propagation  of  seditious  doctrines  and 
the  encouragement  of  those  who  were  prepared  to  resist 
the  government.  Some  of  these  organizations  were  re- 
puted to  hold  correspondence  with  the  rebels,  and  to  lend 


VALLANDIGHAM' S  PROSECUTION.  379 

them  aid  and  comfort.  Altogether  the  times  were  criti- 
cal. Every  man  suspected  his  neighbor's  loyalty. 

One  of  the  most  violent  and  vituperative  of  these  op- 
ponents of  the  war  was  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  a  rep- 
resentative in  Congress  from  Ohio.  In  Congress  he  had 
steadily  and  ardently  opposed  every  measure  designed  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  President  and  other  officers 
of  the  government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and 
had  introduced  resolutions  of  censure  directed  at  the 
President,  on  which  he  had  made  bitter  and  excited 
speeches  designed  to  sow  dissension  and  foment  popular 
discontent.  He  especially  aimed  to  weaken  the  govern- 
ment by  discouraging  enlistments,  and  excite  in  the  minds 
of  the  people,  and  of  the  men  already  in  the  army,  the 
notion  that  the  war  and  all  the  operations  of  the  govern- 
ment pertaining  to  it  were  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and 
wrong. 

General  Burnside,  commanding  the  military  department 
in  which  the  State  of  Ohio  was  included,  issued  an  order 
in  which  he  gave  notice  that  thereafter  all  persons  within 
his  lines  who  should  be  guilty  of  acts  designed  to  assist 
the  enemy  would  be  arrested  as  traitors  and  spies,  tried, 
and  if  convicted,  be  put  to  death.  Vallandigham  imme- 
diately denounced  this  order  in  a  flaming  speech,  in  which 
he  called  upon  the  people  to  resist.  He  was  arrested, 
tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  be  confined  in  some 
fortress  of  the  United  States,  to  be  designated  by  General 
Burnside,  who  named  Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor,  as 
the  place  of  imprisonment.  The  President  was  besieged 


380  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

by  men  who  remonstrated  against  what  they  stigmatized 
as  an  act  of  outrageous  tyranny.  The  incident  excited 
much  interest  and  debate  all  over  the  country.  Lincoln, 
it  was  very  well  understood,  would  not  have  originated 
any  such  prosecution  as  that  which  had  now  resulted  in 
the  placing  of  Vallandigham  in  the  light  of  a  hero  and  a 
martyr.  He  changed  the  penalty  to  an  expulsion  through 
the  Union  lines  into  the  rebel  States.  This  sentence  was 
carried  out  and  Vallandigham  was  sent  to  the  rebel  out- 
posts under  a  guard  and  flag  of  truce.  Received  hospita- 
bly by  his  friends,  the  rebels,  Vallandigham  was  given  a 
safe-conduct  through  the  confederacy,  and  soon  appeared 
in  Canada,  then  a  safe  refuge  for  all  sorts  of  fugitives  and 
suspects. 

Meanwhile,  meetings  to  denounce  the  expulsion  of  Val- 
landigham had  been  held  in  various  towns  and  cities,  and 
Lincoln  was  presented  with  sundry  remonstrances  by 
committees  of  these  gatherings.  The  Democrats  of  Ohio 
nominated  Vallandigham  for  Governor  of  that  State,  and 
sent  a  deputation  to  wait  on  the  President  to  demand  a 
recall  of  their  missing  candidate.  To  this  deputation 
Lincoln  said  :  "  Your  own  attitude  encourages  desertion, 
resistance  to  the  draft,  and  the  like,  because  it  teaches 
those  who  incline  to  desert  and  to  escape  the  draft  to  be- 
lieve it  is  your  purpose  to  protect  them."  Moreover,  he 
told  the  deputation  that  his  treatment  of  Vallandigham 
was  "  for  prevention,  not  for  punishment ;  an  injunction 
to  stay  an  injury  "  ;  and  he  intimated  that  his  modifica- 
tion of  General  Burnside's  order  was  a  more  agreeable  way, 


PALL    OF    VICKSBURG.  381 

at  least  to  Mr.  Vallandigham,  to  stay  the  injury  contem- 
plated than  imprisonment  would  have  been.  Replying 
to  another  appeal,  in  which  it  was  intimated  that  his  rea- 
sons for  the  "persecution  "  of  Vallandigham  were  selfish, 
he  said  that  Vallandigham  was  not  arrested  because  he 
was  likely  to  damage  the  political  prospects  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, but  "  because  he  was  damaging  the  army, 
upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which  the  life  of  the 
nation  depends."  And  he  added  :  "  Must  I  shoot  a  sim- 
ple-minded soldier  boy  who  deserts,  while  I  must  not 
touch  a  hair  of  the  wily  agitator  who  induces  him  to  de- 
sert ?  I  think  that,  in  such  a  case,  to  silence  the  agitator 
and  save  the  boy  is  not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a 
great  mercy." 

In  course  of  time,  Vallandigham  came  secretly  back  to 
the  United  States,  and  soon  began  to  vapor  prodigiously 
as  to  what  he  would  do  if  again  arrested.  By  that  time, 
however,  his  power  for  mischief  was  lessened  on  account 
of  the  better  condition  of  public  sentiment.  Mean- 
while, his  party  had  been  defeated  in  Ohio  by  the 
phenomenal  majority  of  one  hundred  thousand  for  the 
Republican  candidate.  The  government  took  no  further 
notice  of  Vallandigham,  and  he  speedily  sank  into 
obscurity. 

The  turning-point  in  the  military  history  of  the  re- 
bellion came  during  the  month  of  July,  1863.  In  that 
month  fell  Vicksburg,  thus  opening  the  Mississippi  River; 
and  in  that  month  was  fought  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
by  which  the  last  frantic  effort  to  invade  the  North  was 


382  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

frustrated  and  an  irreparable  damage  inflicted  upon  the 
rebel  cause. 

Grant  had  begun,  by  the  end  of  1862,  to  attract  the 
attention  of  loyal  men  throughout  the  Union  as  the 
possible  "  coming  man,"  for  whom  all  patriots  had  been 
looking  to  lead  our  armies  to  victory.  Detraction  was 
speedily  on  his  trail,  and  there  were  those  who  sought  to 
destroy  him  with  slander.  Some  said  that  his  habits 
were  intemperate,  to  which  Lincoln  sarcastically  said 
that,  if  intoxication  gave  him  ability  to  win  such  victories 
as  he  had  accomplished,  he  would  send  some  of  the  same 
sort  of  liquor  to  other  generals  of  the  Union  army.  The 
outlook  was  discouraging  when,  in  February,  1863,  Grant 
took  command  before  Vicksburg  with  the  intention  of 
capturing  the  city.  After  due  preparation,  Grant's  fleet 
of  gun-boats,  above  Vicksburg,  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the 
rebel  batteries,  receiving  a  fire  that  was  terrific.  But  the 
fleet  succeeded  in  reaching  a  point  below  the  city  where 
a  junction  was  effected  with  the  Union  troops  that  had 
been  marched  down  by  land  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river.  The  campaign  resulted,  first,  in  a  complete  in- 
vestment of  the  city  of  Vicksburg,  and  finally,  July  4, 
1863,  in  the  surrender  of  the  place,  with  a  large  force  and 
ammunition  for  sixty  thousand  men.  The  country  was 
electrified  by  the  announcement  of  this  long-hoped-for 
victory.  The  Father  of  Waters  now  flowed  unvexed  to 
the  sea.  The  rebel  confederacy  was  split  in  twain. 

Words  cannot  describe  the  flame  of  excitement,  the 
wave  of  tumultuous  joy,  that  swept  through  the  loyal 


POPULAR  REJOICINGS.  383 

North  when  it  was  known  that  Vicksburg,  the  so-called 
impregnable  Gibraltar  of  the  West,  had  fallen  at  last. 
Bells  were  rung,  fireworks  lighted,  and  bonfires  set  blaz- 
ing on  the  hills  of  the  joyful  Western  States,  so  long 
deprived  of  a  natural  outlet  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and 
everywhere  men  congratulated  themselves  that  the  end 
of  the  war  might  soon  be  seen.  In  a  glow  of  generous 
gratitude  to  Grant  for  his  magnificent  services  to  the 
country,  Lincoln  wrote  him  the  following  warm-hearted 
letter : 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : — I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I 
ever  met  personally.  I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowl- 
edgment for  the  almost  inestimable  service  you  have  done  the 
country.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  further.  When  you  first  reached 
the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  I  thought  you  should  do  what  you 
finally  did — march  the  troops  across  the  neck,  run  the  batteries 
with  the  transports,  and  thus  go  below  ;  and  I  never  had  any 
faith,  except  a  general  hope  that  you  knew  better  than  I,  that 
the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition  and  the  like  could  succeed.  When 
you  got  below  and  took  Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity, 
I  thought  you  should  go  down  the  river  and  join  General 
Banks ;  and  when  you  turned  northward,  east  of  the  Big 
Black,  I  thought  it  was  a  mistake.  I  now  wish  to  make  the 
personal  acknowledgment  that  you  were  right  and  I  was 
wrong." 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  brought  on  by  Lee's  at- 
tempt to  carry  the  war,  as  had  been  often  threatened  by 
the  rebels,  into  the  States  of  the  loyal  North.  Crossing 
the  upper  Rappahannock  with  all  the  available  troops 
that  could  be  gathered  from  the  region  east  of  the  Al- 
leghany  Mountains,  the  rebel  chief  passed  to  the  west- 


384  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ward  of  Washington  and  sent  his  skirmishers  across  the 
Potomac  and  entered  Maryland  at  Dranesville.  Bodies 
of  cavalry  invaded  Pennsylvania  ;  one  under  Jenkins  went 
as  far  as  Greencastle,  in  that  State,  carrying  panic  and 
terror  wherever  it  appeared.  It  was  Lee's  manifest  in- 
tention to  cut  the  communications  west  and  north  of  Bal- 
timore and  then  push  on,  possibly  engaging  in  a  great 
battle  somewhere  near  Philadelphia.  On  the  2/th  of 
June,  a  rebel  army  corps,  under  General  Ewell,  reached 
Carlisle,  Pa.,  and  his  scouts  reconnoitred  Harrisburg,  the 
capital  of  the  State,  the  citizens  of  which  hurriedly  pre- 
pared for  an  attack.  Consternation  everywhere  prevailed. 
Meanwhile,  General  Hooker  had  been  succeeded  in  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  by  General  George 
G.  Meade,  the  failure  of  Hooker  to  discover  Lee's  aims 
and  circumvent  them  having  excited  the  indignation  of 
the  authorities  at  Washington.  Meade's  idea  was  to  pre- 
vent the  rebel  army  from  crossing  the  Susquehanna  and 
striking  at  Baltimore.  He  accordingly  extended  his  line 
so  as  to  occupy  the  valley  between  the  Susquehanna  on 
the  north  and  the  Potomac  on  the  south.  He  soon  found, 
however,  that  the  rebel  army  was  being  concentrated  at 
Gettysburg,  a  small  city  to  the  north  and  west  of  the 
position  occupied  by  himself. 

As  Meade  had  also  intended  to  concentrate  his  forces 
at  the  same  point,  a  collision  between  the  two  armies  be- 
came inevitable  by  this  coincidence.  The  battle-field  lies 
between  two  small  streams,  Willoughby  Run  to  the  west 
of  the  town,  and  Rock  Creek  on  the  east.  Northwest  of 


BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG.  385 

the  city  is  a  group  of  hills,  Oak  Hill,  Seminary  Hill,  and 
Seminary  Ridge,  the  general  direction  of  the  line  being 
north  and  south.  Southeast  of  this  is  another  group, 
Cemetery  Hill,  Cemetery  Ridge,  Round  Top,  and  Little 
Round  Top.  Still  farther  to  the  east  is  a  third  group,  of 
which  Gulp's  Hill  is  the  most  northerly  and  Power's  Hill 
the  most  southerly. 

This  system  of  hills  draws  together  at  one  converging 
point  all  the  roads  that  would  be  available  for  a  military 
movement  from  the  north  and  west  (where  Lee's  army 
now  was  being  concentrated),  towards  those  parts  of 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  that  were  presumably  the 
objects  of  his  attack.  Three  turnpikes  and  seven  country 
roads  pass  through  the  town.  It  was  here  then  that  a 
stand  must  be  made  against  the  farther  advance  of  the 
invading  army.  The  rebels  were  amazed  by  the  richness 
of  the  pastoral  and  farming  country  in  which  they  found 
themselves,  as  contrasted  with  their  own  impoverished 
and  battle-swept  country.  They  rioted  in  agricultural 
luxury. 

Fighting  began  on  the  first  day  of  July,  the  conflict 
being  precipitated  almost  by  accident.  In  this  prelimi- 
nary fight,  General  Reynolds,  commanding  the  First  Army 
Corps  of  the  federal  troops,  was  killed.  The  odds  were 

greatly  against  the  federals,  the  bulk  of  their  army  not 

• 

having  come  up.  The  battle  raged  all  day,  the  rebels 
flinging  themselves  desperately  against  the  federal  line 
of  defence  in  the  attempt  to  force  their  way  through  the 
system  of  hills  before-mentioned.  Night  came  with  the 


386  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

conflict  still  undecided,  and  to  be  renewed  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  when  the  great  battle  was  fought.  We  need  not 
here  recite  the  oft-told  tale  of  that  historic  fight  that 
raged  around  the  hills,  in  which  so  much  valor  and  des- 
peration were  exhibited  on  both  sides.  Again  night 
came  down  on  the  bloody  field  to  end  a  conflict  that  left 
neither  party  a  decided  advantage.  The  federal  troops 
had  suffered  great  losses.  Nearly  all  the  brigades  had 
been  engaged.  More  than  twenty  thousand  men -had 
been  killed,  wounded,  or  captured,  and  numerous  strag- 
glers and  deserters,  streaming  off  in  the  rear  towards  Bal- 
timore, carried  panic  and  alarm  with  them.  A  night 
council-of-war  decided  to  hold  the  position  and  renew  the 
fight  next  day.  The  lines  were  reformed  during  the 
night,  and  the  battle  of  the  third  of  July  decided  the  fate 
of  the  rebel  army.  It  was  finally  repulsed,  after  a  terrific 
struggle,  and,  beaten,  broken,  bleeding,  and  decimated, 
Lee's  forces  retired  sullenly  but  in  good  order.  The 
rebel  invasion  was  over,  and  Lee's  army  had  suffered  a 
stunning  defeat. 

The  effective  force  under  Meade  in  this  three  days' 
battle  was  from  82,000  to  84,000  men,  with  300  pieces 
of  artillery.  Lee's  effective  force  was  80,000  men,  with 
250  guns.  The  total  of  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  in 
this  fight  was  about  46,000  men,  each  side  having  suffered 
equally.  Twenty  generals  were  lost  by  the  federal 
army,  six  being  killed.  The  rebels  lost  seventeen  gen- 
erals, three  being  killed,  thirteen  wounded,  and  one 
taken  prisoner.  The  number  of  heavy  guns  employed 


LEE'S  ESCAPE.  387 

during  the  battle  attracted  world-wide  attention.  The 
artillery  duels  that  occurred  during  the  last  two  days' 
fighting  were  a  remarkable  feature  of  the  contest. 

The  popular  rejoicing  over  this  victory  was  dimmed 
somewhat  by  the  failure  of  Meade  to  capture,  as  many 
supposed  he  would,  the  rebel  army,  which  escaped 
across  the  Potomac  at  Falling  Waters,  Maryland,  where  it 
had  been  hemmed  in  by  the  federal  forces.  Escape  was 
thought  to  be  impossible,  and  Meade  consumed  some  ten 
days  in  rallying  his  army  and  preparing  for  another  at- 
tack. Lincoln  was  extremely  solicitous  that  as  little  delay 
as  possible  should  occur  now.  Hooker  had  been  relieved 
of  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  when  Meade 
replaced  him,  because  he  had  failed  to  discover  Lee's 
movements  and  aims.  As  early  as  the  4th  of  June, 
Washington  was  filled  with  rumors  of  an  intended  advance 
of  Lee  into  the  Northern  States,  and  Lincoln  had  been 
informed  of  these.  But  this  was  nothing  new.  It  was 
common  to  expect  a  "  rebel  invasion  "  that  never  came. 
The  President  felt  confident  that  Hooker  was  so  well 
informed  concerning  Lee's  movements,  that,  in  reply  to 
suggestions  from  friends,  he  said  :  "  I  am  sure  that  nothing 
of  the  kind  is  to  take  place,  unless,  indeed,  Hooker  is 
again  to  be  out-generaled,"  referring  to  the  failure  at 
Chancellorsville. 

Lee's  resources  for  an  escape  across  the  Potomac,  after 
Gettysburg,  were  thought  so  inadequate  that  he  might 
be  "  bagged  "  whenever  Meade  chose  to  take  the  steps 
to  accomplish  that  feat.  Lincoln  grew  more  and  more 


388  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

urgent.  Rumors  reached  Washington  that  Lee  had  al- 
ready begun  to  cross,  and  Halleck,  at  Lincoln's  order, 
sent  messages  to  Meade  informing  him  of  the  danger. 
These  warnings  were  repeated,  somewhat  to  the  vexation 
of  General  Meade,  who  had  their  substance  repeated 
in  general  orders  to  his  corps  commanders,  the  feeling 
being  that  the  solicitude  in  Washington  was  unwarranted. 
Nevertheless,  by  means  of  improvised  pontoon  bridges, 
Lee's  army  successfully  escaped  into  Virginia  from 
Maryland,  only  one  brigade,  left  to  cover  the  retreat, 
being  captured  as  the  tardy  advance  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  came  up.  But  in  spite  of  this,  great  joy  spread 
through  the  loyal  North.  The  fall  of  Vicksburg  and  the 
loss  inflicted  upon  the  defeated  rebel  army  of  invasion, 
were  thought  to  be  harbingers  of  the  day  when  the  war 
should  cease. 

On  the  4th  day  of  July,  Lincoln  issued  an  announce- 
ment to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  briefly  but 
gladly  stating  the  result  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and 
saying  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  been  covered 
with  the  highest  honor.  He  concluded  with  these  words: 
"  The  President  especially  desires  that  on  this  day,  '  He 
whose  will,  not  ours,  should  evermore  be  done,'  be  every- 
where remembered  and  reverenced  with  profoundest  grat- 
itude." That  evening,  the  President  was  visited  by  a  vast 
throng  of  excited  and  joyful,  people,  and  a  band  played 
patriotic  airs  under  the  White  House  windows.  There  had 
not  been  of  late,  so  many  victories  for  the  federal  arms  that 
occasions  like  these  were  common.  The  President  appeared 


THANKSGIVING  PROCLAMATION.  389 

at  the  window,  the  one  central  under  the  portico  of  the 
mansion,  where  he  so  often  afterwards  stood  to  address 
similar  gatherings,  and  made  a  short  congratulatory  ad- 
dress to  the  multitude. 

He  said  :  "  I  do  most  sincerely  thank  God  for  the  occa- 
sion of  this  call."  Then,  reminding  the  people  of  the  day 
being  the  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  recalling  the  immortal  words  of  that  declaration, 
which  were  the  foundation  of  his  political  faith,  he  said : 
"How  long  ago  is  it?  Eighty-odd  years  since,  on  the 
fourth  of  July,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  a  nation,  by  its  representatives  assembled,  and  de- 
clared as  a  self-evident  truth,  that  all  men  are  created 
equal.  That  was  the  birthday  of  the  United  States  of 
America."  He  was  deeply  moved  by  the  occurrence  on 
this  day,  above  all  others  in  the  year,  of  events  calcu- 
lated to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  Americans  the  ideas 
declared  in  1776,  so  dear  to  every  patriotic  citizen,  so  pro- 
foundly fixed  in  his  own  mind,  as  the  underlying  princi- 
ples of  human  political  freedom.  And,  after  referring  to 
historic  events  of  national  importance  related  to  Inde- 
pendence Day,  he  added  :  "  And  now  at  this  last  Fourth 
of  July  just  passed  we  have  a  gigantic  rebellion,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  is  an  effort  to  overthrow  the  principle 
that  all  men  are  created  equal.  We  have  the  surrender 
of  a  most  important  position  and  an  army  on  that  very 
day."  The  President,  it  will  be  noticed,  referred  to  the 
fall  of  Vicksburg  and  the  victories  in  Pennsylvania  at  the 
same  time,  and  he  alluded  to  the  latter,  taking  place  on 


390  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

the  previous  days,  as  the  triumph  of  the  federal  arms  over 
those  who  opposed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  July  the  President  issued  his 
proclamation  for  a  day  of  national  thanksgiving,  the  first 
of  his  Administration,  in  which  he  said  : 

"  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  hearken  to  the  supplica- 
tions and  prayers  of  an  afflicted  people,  and  to  vouchsafe  to 
the  army  and  the  navy  of  the  United  States  victories  on  the 
land  and  on  the  sea,  so  signal  and  so  effective  as  to  furnish 
reasonable  ground  for  augmented  confidence  that  the  union  of 
these  States  will  be  maintained,  their  Constitution  preserved, 
and  their  peace  and  prosperity  permanently  restored.  But 
these  victories  have  been  accorded  not  without  sacrifice  of 
life,  limb,  health,  and  liberty,  incurred  by  brave,  loyal,  and 
patriotic  citizens.  Domestic  affliction  in  every  part  of  the 
country  follows  in  the  train  of  these  fearful  bereavements. 
It  is  meet  and  right  to  recognize  and  confess  the  presence  of 
the  Almighty  Father,  and  the  power  of  his  hand,  equally  in 
these  triumphs  and  these  sorrows." 

He  then  invited  all  the  people  to  assemble  the  sixth 
day  of  August  to 

"  render  the  homage  due  to  the  Divine  Majesty  for  the  won- 
derful things  he  has  done  in  the  nation's  behalf,  and  invoke 
the  influences  of  his  holy  spirit  to  subdue  the  anger  which  has 
so  produced  and  so  long  sustained  a  needless  and  cruel  rebel- 
lion ;  to  change  the  hearts  of  the  insurgents  ;  to  guide  the 
counsels  of  the  government  with  wisdom  adequate  to  so  great 
a  national  emergency,  and  to  visit  with  tender  care  and  con- 
solation, throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land,  all 
those  who,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  marches,  voyages,  bat- 
tles, and  sieges,  have  been  brought  to  suffer  in  mind,  body,  or 
estate,  and,  finally,  to  lead  the  whole  nation  through  paths  of 


DRAFT  RIOTS  IN  NEW    YORK.  391 

repentance  and  submission  to  the  divine  will,  back  to  the  per- 
fect enjoyment  of  union  and  fraternal  peace." 

Later  in  the  year,  on  the  3d  of  October,  Lincoln  insti- 
tuted the  permanent  national  festival  of  Thanksgiving, 
heretofore  observed  without  any  general  concurrence. 
His  proclamation  set  apart  the  last  Thursday  in  Novem- 
ber to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  national  giving  of  thanks 
to  God  for  all  his  mercies.  From  that  time  forward  the 
day  has  annually  been  observed  as  so  designated  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln. 

Right  on  the  heels  of  these  victories  of  July,  in  fact  on 
the  very  day  that  Lee  recrossed  the  Potomac  (July  I3th), 
came  dangerous  and  destructive  riots  in  New  York,  occa- 
sioned by  the  enforcement  of  the  conscription  laws.  Op- 
position to  the  war  had  all  along  been  more  bitter  among 
certain  classes  of  the  foreign  population  than  any  other, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  some  of  the  most  patriotic 
volunteers  in  the  war,  officers  and  privates,  were  adopted 
citizens  of  the  republic.  When  it  was  found  necessary  to 
enforce  the  draft  in  New  York,  this  opposition  took  the 
form  of  open  violence.  A  mob  broke  into  and  set  fire  to 
the  building  in  which  were  the  head-quarters  of  the  officers 
who  were  conducting  the  drafting  operations.  The  rioters 
prevented  the  firemen  from  subduing  the  flames,  and 
much  property  was  destroyed  by  fire  and  by  the  mob. 
The  criminal  classes,  like  birds  of  prey,  rose  at  the  sight, 
and  for  several  days  the  city  was  almost  at  the  mercy  of 
a  mob  of  desperate  men.  Murder,  pillage,  and  incendi- 
arism ran  riot  for  a  time ;  the  police,  nobly  although  they 


392  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

fought  to  preserve  order,  were  too  few  in  numbers  to  quell 
the  disturbances  that  broke  out  in  various  parts  of  the 
city.  The  State  militia  were  absent  defending  the  lines 
in  which  the  rebellion  had  been  hitherto  confined. 

The  fury  of  the  rioters  appeared  to  be  especially  direct- 
ed against  the  colored  people.  An  asylum  for  colored 
half-orphans  was  set  on  fire,  and  its  helpless  inmates  were 
driven  into  the  streets.  Wherever  the  rioters  could  find 
a  colored  man,  he  was  caught,  maltreated,  and  in  some 
instances  hung  to  the  nearest  lamp-post  or  tree.  The 
worst  elements  of  the  city  were  on  top,  and  for  a  time  it 
appeared  as  if  a  volcano  had  broken  through  the  social 
crust  of  the  city.  At  first  the  President  proposed  to  send 
General  Kilpatrick,  a  dashing  cavalry  officer,  to  the  scene 
of  the  riot,  thinking  that  his  name  would  be  a  terror  to  the 
lawless  gangs  that  had  ravaged  the  city.  Horatio  Sey- 
mour, Governor  of  the  State,  harangued  the  mob  in  dul- 
cet tones,  addressing  them  as  "  My  friends,"  and  urging 
them  to  disperse.  But  sterner  measures  were  soon  re- 
quired ;  troops  were  recalled  from  Pennsylvania,  and  after 
a  demonstration  of  military  force,  the  Riot  was  suppressed 
and  order  restored. 

In  August,  Lincoln  was  invited  with  great  urgency  to 
attend  a  meeting  called  to  assemble  in  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, to  concert  measures  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Union  and  to  consider  the  condition  of  public  affairs.  In 
a  letter  written  August  26th,  he  expressed  his  regret  that 
he  could  not  attend  the  meeting,  and  in  a  few  well-chosen 
sentences  he  outlined  his  policy.  Alluding  to  the  notion 


EXTRACT  FROM  A   LETTER.  393 

then  beginning  to  be  more  prevalent  than  it  had  been, 
— that  there  might  be  a  peaceful  compromise  with  the 
rebels, — he  asked  how  such  a  compromise  could  disband 
or  expel  from  Northern  soil  the  rebel  army.  He  urged 
that  the  strength  of  the  rebellion  was  its  army,  and  that 
a  compromise,  to  be  effective,  must  be  with  those  who 
controlled  that  army.  And  he  promised  that  any  propo- 
sition coming  from  any  persons  able  to  control  the  rebel 
forces  should  be  entertained.  He  showed  by  many  for- 
cible illustrations  that  war  was  destructive,  and  that  in 
time  of  war  property  must  be  destroyed.  Taking  the 
common  view  that  slaves  are  property,  he  argued  that  the 
destruction  of  African  slavery  in  the  Southern  States  was 
one  of  the  means  adopted  for  the  crippling  of  the  rebel- 
lion. And  in  answer  to  the  oft-repeated  assertion  that 
certain  objectors  would  not  fight  to  free  negroes,  he  urged 
them  to  fight  to  save  the  Union.  The  closing  paragraphs 
of  this  letter,  admirable  examples  of  Lincoln's  homely 
and  forcible  figures  of  speech,  were  as  follows : 

"The  Father  of  Waters  again  ^goes  unvexed  to  the  sea. 
Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it ;  nor  yet  wholly  to  them. 
Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met  New  England,  Empire, 
Keystone,  and  Jersey,  hewing  their  way  right  and  left.  •  The 
sunny  South,  too,  in  more  colors  than  one,  also  lent  a  helping 
hand.  On  the  spot,  their  part  of  the  history  was  jotted  down 
in  black  and  white.  The  job  was  a  great  national  one,  and  let 
none  be  slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part  in  it.  And  while 
those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river  may  well  be  proud,  even 
that  is  not  all.  It  is  hard  to  say  that  any  thing  has  been  more 
bravely  and  well  done  than  at  Antietam,  Murfreesboro,  Gettys- 


394  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

burg,  and  on  many  fields  of  less  note.  Nor  must  Uncle  Sam's 
web-feet  be  forgotten.  At  all  the  watery  margins  they  have 
been  present,  not  only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad  bay,  and 
the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the  narrow,  muddy  bayou,  and 
wherever  the  ground  was  a  little  damp,  they  have  been  and 
made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all.  For  the  great  republic — 
for  the  principle  it  lives  by  and  keeps  alive — for  man's  vast 
future — thanks  to  all. 

"  Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will 
come  soon  and  come  to  stay  ;  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the 
keeping  in  all  future  time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that 
among  freemen  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  from  the 
ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who  take  such  appeal  are 
sure  to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the  cost.  And  there  will  be 
some  black  men  who  can  remember  that  with  silent  tongue  and 
clenched  teeth  and  steady  eye  and  well-poised  bayonet  they 
have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great  consummation,  while  I 
fear  there  will  be  some  white  ones  unable  to  forget  that  with 
malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech  they  have  striven  to 
hinder  it." 

On  the  i  Qth  of  November,  1863,  the  battle-field  of 
Gettysburg  was  solemnly  dedicated  as  a  burying-place  for 
the  repose  of  the  remains  of  those  who  had  yielded  up 
their  lives  on  that  now  historic  ground.  The  services 
were  solemn  and  impressive.  The  principal  oration  was 
made  by  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts.  A  few  days 
before  the  ceremony,  Mr.  Everett  sent  the  President  a 
copy  of  his  address,  printed  on  one  sheet  of  a  Boston 
newspaper.  It  was  very  long.  Lincoln  looked  it  over 
with  great  gravity  and  said :  "  It  was  very  kind  in  Mr. 
Everett  to  send  me  this,  in  order  that  I  might  not  go 
over  the  same  ground  that  he  has.  There  is  no  danger 
that  I  shall.  My  speech  is  all  blocked  out.  It  is  very  short." 


ADDRESS  AT  GETTYSBURG.  395 

The  speech  was  written  out  in  Washington,  but  Lincoln 
revised  it  somewhat  after  he  reached  Gettysburg.  As  he 
read  it  from  the  manuscript,  he  made  a  few  verbal 
changes.  These  changes  did  not  appear  in  the  report 
printed  at  the  time  by  the  newspapers,  but  they  were  em- 
bodied in  the  draft  made  for  permanent  publication, 
afterwards,  by  Lincoln.  As  delivered  and  corrected  by  its 
illustrious  author,  the  speech  was  as  follows : 

"  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  ded- 
icated to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

"  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether 
that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can 
long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  the  war. 
We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field,  as  a  final 
resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  their 
nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we 
should  do  this. 

"  But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  con- 
secrate, we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here  have  consecrated  it,  far  above 
our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note, 
nor  long  remember,  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget 
what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us  the  living,  rather,  to  be  ded- 
icated here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought 
here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to 
be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us — that 
from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that 
cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion — 
that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died 
in  vain — that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of 
freedom — and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for 
the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 


FAC-SIMILE  OF  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS. 


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<^-«o 

ff  f 

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&LOj05G~ C<**s 


/L/U^c-o  /fo-r  7ts&r3-& 


396 


398  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

This  wonderful  address,  so  compact  of  wisdom  and  the 
simplest  elements  of  eloquence,  was  received  with  becom- 
ing solemnity.  Many  were  moved  to  tears.  But  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  oration  of  the  silver-tongued  Everett, 
then  one  of  the  most  admired  of  American  orators,  mo- 
mentarily attracted  greater  attention.  The  very  shortness 
of  Lincoln's  little  speech  caused  it  to  be  almost  overlooked 
at  the  time.  But  in  a  few  days,  when  the  people  of  the 
country  at  large  had  fairly  digested  it,  and  its  patriotic 
and  human  lesson  had  sunk  into  the  minds  of  men,  public 
opinion  seized  upon  it  and  glorified  it  as  one  of  the  few 
masterpieces  in  oratory  that  the  world  has  received.  As 
time  has  rolled  away,  these  pregnant  sentences  have  be- 
come classic,  and  generations  yet  unborn  may  wonder 
that  they  did  not  at  once  arouse  great  enthusiasm. 

About  this  time,  too,  Lincoln  put  forth  another  remark- 
able utterance.  In  his  visits  to  the  army,  he  had  been 
pained  to  see  that  the  Sabbath  was  very  scantily  observed 
by  the  men  while  in  camp,  and  that  much  and  frequent 
needless  profanity  disfigured  the  talk  of  men  and  officers. 
He  issued  an  order.  He  knew  that  an  army  could  not  be 
expected  to  be  a  strict  keeper  of  the  Sabbath,  but  he  saw 
that  many  of  the  occupations  of  the  soldiers  were  glaringly 
and  unnecessarily  out  of  harmony  with  the  day.  But  in 
this  letter,  for  it  was  only  a  circular  and  hardly  an  order, 
he  said  : 

"  The  importance  for  man  and  beast  of  the  prescribed  weekly 
rest,  the  sacred  rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors,  a  be- 
coming deference  to  the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people, 


OPERATIONS  IN   THE    WEST.  399 

and  a  due  regard  for  the  Divine  will,  demand  that  Sunday 
labor  in  the  army  and  navy  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict 
necessity.  The  discipline  and  character  of  the  national  forces 
should  not  suffer,  nor  the  cause  they  defend  be  imperilled,  by 
the  profanation  of  the  day  or  the  name  of  the  Most  High." 

And  on  the  latter  mentioned  habit,  that  of  profane 
swearing,  he  took  occasion  to  admonish  a  certain  general, 
himself  addicted  to  the  vice,  to  use  his  authority  to  cor- 
rect it  among  his  men. 

The  year  closed  auspiciously,  so  far  as  military  opera- 
tions in  the  West  were  concerned.  In  October,  Grant 
took  command  of  a  large  force,  being  stationed  at  the 
head  of  the  military  division  of  the  Mississippi,  with 
head-quarters  at  Louisville,  Kentucky.  The  departments 
of  the  Ohio  and  the  Cumberland  were  merged  in  this 
division,  General  George  H.Thomas  being  in  command  of 
the  latter  army.  Hooker,  with  fifteen  thousand  men,  was 
sent  from  the  East  to  the  West,  and  Sheridan  and  Sher- 
man were  subordinate  commanders  in  this  new  and  for- 
midable combination  under  Grant.  The  battles  of  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Lookout  Mountain,  and  Chattanooga  fol- 
lowed, and  the  rebels  were  sent  flying  out  of  Tennessee. 
Burnside  was  shut  up  in  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  for  a  time, 
and  there  was  great  solicitude  all  over  the  country  on  his 
account,  as  his  communications  with  the  North  were 
temporarily  cut  off.  One  day,  Washington  was  startled. 
The  long  silence  concerning  Burnside's  movements  was 
broken  by  an  urgent  call  from  him  for  succor.  Lincoln, 
relieved  by  the  news  that  Burnside  was  safe,  at  least,  said 


4OO  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

that  ne  was  reminded  of  a  woman  who  lived  in  a  forest 
clearing  in  Indiana,  her  cabin  surrounded  by  hazel-bushes, 
in  which  some  of  her  numerous  flock  of  children  were 
continually  being  lost.  When  she  heard  a  squall  from 
one  of  these  in  the  distance,  although  she  knew  that  the 
child  was  in  danger,  perhaps  frightened  by  a  rattlesnake, 
she  would  say  :  "  Thank  God  !  there  's  one  of  my  young 
ones  that  is  n't  lost." 

Sherman  was  sent  to  the  relief  of  Burnside,  and,  by 
forced  marches,  reached  him  and  sent  the  rebel  army 
under  Longstreet  back  into  Virginia.  The  loyal  moun- 
taineers were  delivered  from  their  persecutors,  and  Ten- 
nessee was  delivered  from  what  proved  to  be  the  last 
formidable  attempt  to  hold  the  State  for  the  confederacy. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

POLITICAL   COMPLICATIONS. 

A  "President-Making"  Congress  —  Activity  of  Lincoln's  Opponents  — 
Grant  Appointed  Lieutenant-General — Beginning  of  an  Aggressive 
Campaign — Federal  Successes  in  the  Southwest — Sheridan  iu  the  Val- 
ley of  the  Shenandoah — Political  Troubles  in  Missouri — Lincoln 
Renominated — McClellan  the  Democratic  Nominee — A  Diversion  in 
Favor  of  Fremont — Peace  Negotiations  at  Niagara — Five  Hundred 
Thousand  Men  Called  Out — Lincoln  Re-elected — Renewed  Talk  of 
Peace — A  Peace  Conference  at  Hampton  Roads — "  The  President's 
Last,  Shortest,  and  Best  Speech  " — The  Second  Inauguration. 

DURING  the  winter  of  1863-4  there  was  no  little 
President-making  in  Congress ;  for  the  session 
before  the  time  for  nominating  presidential  candidates  is 
usually  known  as  a  President-making  Congress.  This 
time,  however,  there  was  less  of  this  sort  of  political  skir- 
mishing than  ever  before  or  since.  The  Democrats,  whose 
stock-in-trade,  so  to  speak,  was  opposition  to  the  war, 
were  largely  in  a  minority.  The  Republicans,  although 
divided  in  their  counsels,  were  bent  on  a  more  energetic 
support  of  the  Administration  than  ever,  believing  as  many 
did  that  the  war  was  now  nearing  its  close,  and  that  it 
would  really  come  to  an  end  before  the  next  presidential 
term  ended — March  4,  1869.  The  Republican  opposition 
to  Lincoln  came  from  those  who  did  not  consider  him 

401 


4O2  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

sufficiently  radical  for  the  time.  These  demanded  radical 
measures  affecting  slavery  in  the  border  States ;  and  they 
thought  that  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war 
might  be  had  under  the  leadership  of  a  more  determined 
and  alert  President.-  The  radical  Republicans,  as  a  rule, 
favored  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Chase,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  Some,  however,  expressed  a  preference  for 
General  Fremont,  whose  unfortunate  career  in  Missouri 
had  excited  their  sympathies,  if  not  their  indignation 
against  Lincoln. 

On  his  part,  Lincoln  made  no  sign  of  anxiety  for  a 
renomination  by  his  party.  With  more  sagacity  than 
most  of  his  friends  possessed,  and  with  all  the  springs  of 
action  within  his  reach,  he  doubtless  knew  that  events 
would  so  shape  themselves  that  his  renomination  was 
inevitable.  He  made  no  secret,  among  his  personal 
friends,  of  his  desire  to  be  elected  to  a  second  term.  In 
conversation  with  one  of  these  he  said  :  "  I  am  only  the 
people's  attorney  in  this  great  affair.  I  am  trying  to  do 
the  best  I  can  for  my  client — the  country.  But  if  the 
people  desire  to  change  their  attorney,  it  is  not  for  me  to 
resist  or  complain.  Nevertheless,  between  you  and  me, 
I  think  the  change  would  be  impolitic,  whoever  might  be 
substituted  for  the  present  counsel."  To  another  he  said, 
with  his  inveterate  habit  of  putting  a  large  truth  in  the 
form  of  a  pleasantry  :  "  I  don't  believe  it  is  wise  to  swap 
horses  while  crossing  a  stream."  In  truth,  after  men  had 
anxiously  canvassed  the  names  of  all  who  were  in  the 
least  worthy  to  be  considered  eligible  to  the  presidency, 


GRANT  APPOINTED  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.     403 

succeeding  Lincoln,  they  almost  invariably  returned  to 
him  as  the  only  man  to  be  thought  of  with  seriousness. 

One  of  the  important  military  events  of  that  winter  was 
the  appointment  of  General  Grant  to  the  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant-general. Hitherto,  the  highest  rank  in  the  army  had 
been  that  of  major-general.  The  title  of  general-in-chief, 
borne  by  Halleck,  was  temporary,  a  mere  expedient,  and 
not  distinctly  recognized  by  usage.  The  rank  of  lieutenant- 
general  was  created  by  act  of  Congress,  with  the  tacit 
understanding  that  it  was  to  be  conferred  upon  Grant, 
whose  almost  unbroken  series  of  victories  in  the  West 
had  by  this  time  convinced  the  people  that  here  was  at 
last  "  the  coming  man  "  for  whom  they  had  so  long 
waited.  The  act  creating  the  rank,  giving  its  wearer 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  was 
warmly  approved  by  Lincoln,  and  was  zealously  sup- 
ported in  Congress  by  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  of  Illinois, 
a  steadfast  and  influential  friend  of  Grant,  from  the  time 
when  this  soldier,  then  unknown  and  unappreciated, 
began  his  career  as  Colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois 
Regiment. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1864,  the  President  sent  to 
Congress  a  message  approving  the  act  creating  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States, 
and  nominating  U.  S.  Grant,  of  Illinois,  to  that  rank. 
The  nomination  was  confirmed  on  the  2d  of  March,  and 
the  President  immediately  requested  the  presence  in 
Washington  of  the  newly  appointed  Lieutenant-General. 
It  was  one  of  the  scandals  of  the  time  that  army  officers 


404  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  every  grade  visited  the  national  capital  in  great  num- 
bers to  seek  promotion  in  rank  or  to  advance  their  private 
ends  in  some  other  way.  So  great  an  abuse  did  this  self- 
seeking  become,  that  the  War  Department  was  compelled 
to  issue  an  order  forbidding  army  officers  to  visit  the  cap- 
ital without  official  permission.  Up  to  that  time,  Grant 
had  never  gone  into  Washington,  nor  had  he  asked  for 
permission.  He  attended  to  his  duties  as  a  soldier  until 
summoned  to  the  seat  of  government  by  the  President. 

Grant  arrived  in  Washington,  to  accept  his  new  com- 
mission, on  the  8th  of  March.  That  evening  there  chanced 
to  be  a  presidential  levee  at  the  White  House.  It  was  a 
public  reception,  open  to  all  who  chose  to  come.  Thither 
went  Grant,  entering  the  reception  room  unannounced. 
He  was  instantly  recognized  by  those  who  had  seen  his 
portraits  printed  in  the  newspapers  and  circulated  by 
means  of  the  photographs  then  becoming  common.  He 
was  greeted  very  warmly,  almost  affectionately,  by  Lin- 
coln, and  it  was  speedily  noised  about  that  the  hero  of 
Vicksburg  was  in  the  rooms,  and  the  pressure  to  see  him 
was  so  great  that  the  modest  General  was  induced  to 
stand  on  a  sofa,  where  he  rose  above  the  crowd  and  was 
regarded  with  admiring  eyes.  When  he  bade  the  Presi- 
dent good-night,  he  said  :  "  This  is  a  warmer  campaign 
than  I  have  witnessed  during  the  war." 

Next  daj",  by  appointment,  he  waited  upon  the  Presi- 
dent, who,  in  the  presence  of  members  of  the  cabinet  and 
a  few  personal  friends,  presented  him  with  his  commission, 
saying : 


GRANT  ACCEPTS  THE  COMMISSION.  40$ 

"  General  Grant,  the  nation's  appreciation  of  what  you  have 
done,  and  its  reliance  upon  you  for  what  remains  to  be  done 
in  the  existing  great  struggle,  are  now  presented  with  this 
commission,  constituting  you  Lieutenant-General  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States.  With  this  high  honor  devolves  upon 
you  also  a  corresponding  responsibility.  As  the  country  here 
intrusts  you,  so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain  you.  I  need 
scarcely  add  that,  with  what  I  here  speak  for  the  Nation,  goes 
my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence." 

General  Grant  accepted  the  commission  in  a  few  modest 
words  expressive  of  appreciation  of  the  high  honor  con- 
ferred upon  him,  and  acknowledging  his  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, his  dependence  upon  the  valorous  armies,  and, 
above  all,  as  he  said  :  "  The  favor  of  that  Providence 
which  leads  both  nations  and  men."  The  General  imme- 
diately visited  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  of  which  Gen- 
eral Meade  still  retained  command.  Then  he  returned  to 
Washington  where,  without  his  knowledge,  a  dinner  had 
been  arranged  by  Mrs.  Lincoln,  at  the  White  House,  at 
which  he  was  to  be  the  principal  guest.  At  the  close  of 
an  important  interview  with  the  President,  during  which 
the  General  outlined  his  plan  of  military  operations,  as  far 
as  they  could  be  arranged  at  that  time,  he  announced  his 
intention  of  leaving  at  once  for  the  West.  Lincoln  told 
him  of  the  expected  dinner,  but  Grant  quietly  insisted 
that  he  must  go.  "  Besides,"  said  the  General,  "  I  have 
had  enough  of  this  show  business,  Mr.  President."  And 
the  General  left  for  the  West  without  waiting  for  the 
dinner  and  the  brilliant  invited  company.  This  incident 
greatly  pleased  Lincoln,  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  not 


406  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

met  any  military  officer  who  was  so  willing  to  forego 
"  the  show  business." 

General  Sherman  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
military  division  of  the  Mississippi,  succeeding  Grant, 
who,  in  an  order  dated  March  17,  1864,  took  command  of 
the  armies  of  the  United  States,  with  head-quarters  in  the 
field,  and,  until  further  notice,  with  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. Heretofore  there  had  been  no  concert  of  action 
between  the  armies  in  the  West  and  those  in  the  East. 
They  had  acted  independently  of  each  other ;  and  be- 
tween the  two  great  divisions  there  had  been  innumerable 
jealousies  and  heart-burnings,  both  as  to  relative  merits 
and  as  to  military  promotions.  Henceforth  this  was  to 
cease.  These  bodies  would  not  any  longer  be,  as  Grant  said, 
"  like  a  balky  team,  no  two  ever  pulling  together  "  ;  thereby 
enabling  the  enemy,  who  operated  on  interior  lines,  to  at- 
tend to  the  one,  or  the  other,  that  happened  to  be  active 
while  the  other  was  not  in  motion.  Henceforth,  the  ene- 
my was  to  be  pressed  on  all  sides,  and  without  cessation. 
Lincoln,  on  his  part,  sent  Grant  into  the  field  with  these 
words  :  "  You  are  vigilant  and  self-reliant.  Pleased  with 
this,  I  wish  not  to  obtrude  any  restraints  or  constraints 
upon  you.  If  there  be  any  thing  in  my  power  to  give,  do 
not  fail  to  let  me  know.  And  now,  with  a  brave  army 
and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain  you." 

When  the  invincible  hero  of  the  West  pitched  his  tent 
with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rap- 
idan,  everybody  felt  that  the  time  had  now  come  when 
the  fate  of  the  confederacy  was  to  be  determined.  To 


BEGINNING  OF  AN  AGGRESSIVE   CAMPAIGN.      407 

use  Grant's  own  words,  the  policy  now  was  "  to  hammer 
continuously  against  the  armed  force  of  the  enemy  and 
his  resources,  until,  by  mere  attrition,  if  in  no  other  way, 
there  should  be  nothing  left  for  him  but  an  equal  submis- 
sion with  the  loyal  section  of  our  common  country  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  land." 

The  campaign  against  the  rebel  capital  opened  in  May, 
Meade  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  was 
now  reinforced  by  the  Ninth  Corps,  under  Burnside.  The 
other  corps  commanders  were  Hancock,  Warren,  and  Sedg- 
wick.  The  army  moved  at  midnight,  on  the  3d  of  the 
month.  On  the  5th  and  6th  were  fought  the  bloody  bat- 
tles of  the  Wilderness — battles  that  once  more  filled  Wash- 
ington with  wounded,  and  were  the  beginning  of  the  long 
series  of  struggles  with  the  enemy  that  resulted  at  last  in 
his  overthrow  and  surrender.  Success  generally  crowned 
the  federal  arms,  and  the  rebels  were  steadily  pressed 
backward  upon  Richmond,  although  not  without  a  gallant 
and  desperate  resistance.  The  excitement  in  Washington, 
at  this  time,  was  intense.  At  every  sound  of  victory  from 
the  front,  the  President  was  visited  by  bands  of  enthusi- 
astic citizens,  who,  with  music  and  cheering,  invited  Lin- 
coln to  come  to  the  now  historic  window  of  the  White 
House  and  speak  to  the  crowds.  On  one  of  these  occa- 
sions, May  nth,  Lincoln  read  to  the  enthusiastic  assem- 
bly a  despatch  just  received  from  Grant,  in  which  he  said  : 
"  Our  losses  have  been  heavy,  as  well  as  those  of  the  en- 
emy, and  I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes 
all  summer." 


THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

On  another  occasion,  near  the  end  of  the  war,  appar- 
ently being  at  a  loss  for  anything  further  to  say,  after  he 
had  congratulated  the  people  on  a  victory  of  the  federal 
arms,  he  asked  that  the  band  should  play  "  Dixie,"  the 
favorite  air  of  the  rebels ;  and  he  explained  his  request 
by  saying  that  he  always  did  like  that  tune.  And  "Gen- 
eral Grant  has  captured  it  now,  I  believe,  and  henceforth 
it  is  ours  by  the  laws  of  war."  He  said,  privately,  that  a 
speech  in  reply  to  a  serenade  was  the  most  difficult  job 
that  he  undertook  in  the  line  of  speech-making.  "  For," 
he  said,  "  while  I  am  glad  to  congratulate  the  people  on 
our  victories,  I  do  not  like  even  to  seem  to  glorify  our- 
selves at  the  expense  of  a  fallen  foe.  And,  besides,  after 
you  have  said  you  are  glad,  what  more  is  there  to  say  ?  " 

Not  only  with  victories  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
but  with  those  of  the  armies  of  the  West  were  the  people 
now  glad.  Sherman  had  opened  his  campaign  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Alleghanies,  at  the  same  time  that 
Grant  had  begun  his  aggressive  movements.  The  rebels 
had  measurably  recovered  from  their  overwhelming  defeat 
at  Mission  Ridge,  and  had  filled  up  their  depleted  ranks 
once  more.  Sherman  pressed  the  enemy,  after  serious 
fighting  all  along  the  line,  driving  him  back,  almost  inch 
by  inch,  into  Georgia,  fighting  the  battles  of  Resaca,  Alla- 
toona,  and  around  Kennesaw,  and  finally  invested  Atlanta. 
On  the  22d  of  July,  Atlanta  fell  into  his  hands,  and,  re- 
quiring that  important  railroad  centre  for  a  base  of  sup- 
plies, he  sent  out  the  people  of  the  city.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  rebel  general,  Hood,  and  the  mayor  of  the  city 


FEDERAL   SUCCESSES  IN    THE   SOUTHWEST.      409 

protested  against  what  they  called  an  act  of  barbarity. 
In  his  reply,  Sherman  said  that  the  war  must  be  prose- 
cuted, and  that  war  was  barbarous.  "You  cannot  qualify 
war  in  harsher  terms  than  I  will,"  he  said.  "  War  is 
cruelty,  and  you  cannot  refine  it ;  and  those  who  have 
brought  war  upon  our  country,  deserve  all  the  curses  and 
maledictions  that  a  people  can  pour  out."  These  senti- 
ments appalled  the  rebels,  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
remonstrate  effectively,  like  so  many  politicians,  when 
they  saw  the  cause  they  held  being  seriously  crippled  by 
the  tactics  of  those  against  whom  they  defended  it. 

Hood,  hoping  to  drive  Sherman  to  the  northward, 
moved  against  the  Tennessee  country  once  more,  passing 
to  the  right  of  Atlanta.  The  federal  lines,  under 
Thomas  and  Schofield,  were  formed  in  front  of  Nash- 
ville. Then  Hood  was  attacked  in  his  turn,  and  after  a 
fierce  and  bloody  fight,  continuing  through  two  days,  the 
rebel  army  under  Hood  was  ignominiously  put  to  flight. 
The  rebels  broke  and  fled  in  the  utmost  confusion,  giv- 
ing up  several  thousand  prisoners  and  a  vast  amount  of 
arms,  ammunition,  and  artillery.  Some  fragments  of  the 
once  proud  army  of  Hood  joined  themselves  to  other 
organizations,  but  the  army  itself  disappeared  from  the 
campaign.  This  memorable  annihilation  of  Hood's  force 
astonished  and  delighted  all  the  loyal  people.  Lincoln, 
elated  by  the  defeat  of  what  had  so  long  been  a  menacing 
force  on  the  borders  of  Tennessee,  was  reminded  by  its 
collapse  of  the  fate  of  a  savage  dog  belonging  to  one  of 
his  neighbors,  in  the  frontier  settlement  in  which  he  lived 


410  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

in  his  youth.  The  dog,  he  said,  was  the  terror  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  its  owner,  a  churlish  and  quarrelsome 
fellow,  took  pleasure  in  the  brute's  formidable  attitude. 
Finally,  all  other  means  having  failed  to  subdue  the  crea- 
ture, a  man  loaded  a  lump  of  meat  with  a  charge  of  pow- 
der to  which  was  attached  a  slow  fuse.  This  was  dropped 
where  the  dreaded  dog  would  find  it,  and  the  animal 
gulped  down  the  tempting  bit.  There  was  a  dull  rum- 
bling, a  muffled  explosion,  and  fragments  of  the  dog  were 
seen  flying  in  all  directions.  The  grieved  owner,  picking 
up  the  shattered  remains  of  his  cruel  favorite,  said  :  "  He 
was  a  good  dog,  but,  as  a  dog,  his  days  of  usefulness  are 
over."  "  Hood's  army  was  a  good  army,"  said  Lincoln, 
by  way  of  comment,  "  and  we  were  all  afraid  of  it ;  but,  as 
an  army,  its  usefulness  is  gone." 

Military  operations  on  the  line  of  the  James  River,  Vir- 
ginia, were  a  part  of  Grant's  plan,  and  General  B.  F.  But- 
ler took  possession  of  the  City  Point,  on  the  James,  where 
Grant  subsequently  established  a  base  of  supplies.  But- 
ler, being  attacked  here,  fell  back  on  the  peninsula  be- 
tween the  James  and  the  Appomattox,  where,  being  shut 
in  by  a  line  of  rebel  intrenchments,  he  was  "  bottled 
up  "  as  Grant  said  at  the  time. 

General  Hunter  was  sent  to  clear  the  valley  of  the  Shen- 
andoah  of  the  enemy,  but,  being  confronted  by  a  superior 
force,  he  was  compelled  to  retire  by  the  way  of  the  Kan- 
awha. 

The  rebel  general,  Early,  being  only  temporarily  de- 
layed by  the  opposition  offered  him  by  the  federal  forces 


SHERIDAN  IN   THE   SHENANDOAH   VALLEY.      4!! 

under  General  Lew  Wallace,  pressed  on  towards  Wash- 
ington, entered  Maryland  once  more,  and  plundered  and 
burned  residences  not  more  than  seven  miles  from  the 
national  capital,  the  house  of  Montgomery  Blair  being 
one  of  these.  Grant  promptly  despatched  two  army  corps, 
intercepted  the  rebel  advance,  and  saved  Washington  from 
attack.  But  it  was  for  a  time  a  season  of  panic  and 
alarm  in  the  capital.  From  Fort  Stevens,  in  the  outer 
line  of  defences,  Lincoln  saw  the  repulse  of  Early  and  the 
flight  of  the  rebels. 

Later  in  the  year,  Grant  sent  his  trusty  lieutenant, 
Sheridan,  to  clear  the  valley  effectually  of  the  raiding 
rebels,  who  gathered  their  supplies  from  the  rich  farms  of 
the  Shenandoah  region.  In  August  and  September  of 
1864,  Sheridan  did  his  work  so  well  that  his  truthful 
boast  was  that  a  crow  flying  over  the  valley  would  have 
to  carry  his  rations  with  him. 

During  this  summer,  political  feeling  ran  high.  The 
conventions  for  the  nomination  of  presidential  candidates 
were  drawing  near,  and  all  parties  were  marshalling  their 
forces  for  the  struggle.  A  considerable  faction  inside  the 
Republican  party  opposed  the  renomination  of  Lincoln. 
These  radicals,  as  they  were  called,  were  the  malcontents 
who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  policy  of  the  administra- 
tion, so  far  as  that  related  to  politics.  They  thought  it 
not  sufficiently  pronounced,  especially  as  it  related  to 
slavery  and  the  treatment  of  the  South  and  the  border 
States.  They  were  also  of  the  opinion  that  a  more  vigor- 
ous prosecution  of  the  war  was  needed.  A  fierce  political 


412  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

quarrel  in  Missouri,  fomented  by  the  friends  and  the 
opponents  of  the  Blairs,  who  were  influential  in  the 
councils  of  the  government,  was  also  in  progress,  and  the 
radical  Republicans  of  that  State  were  opposed  to  Lin- 
coln as  well  as  to  the  Blairs.  Horace  Greeley,  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  was  one  of  those  who  violently  spoke 
and  wrote  against  the  renomination.  And  several  active 
politicians  in  Washington  set  on  foot  measures  to  defeat 
that  step  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party.  Some  of 
these  prepared  a  secret  circular  designed  to  solidify  the 
anti-Lincoln  feeling  and  bring  about  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Chase,  or  some  other  advanced  anti-slavery  candidate. 

Lincoln  was  not  unaware  of  these  movements,  but  he 
took  no  steps  to  counteract  them.  When  he  was  told 
that  some  of  his  opponents  were  considering  the  name  of 
General  Grant  as  a  possible  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
he  said  :  "  If  the  people  think  that  General  Grant  can  end 
the  rebellion  sooner  by  being  in  this  place,  I  shall  be 
very  glad  to  get  out  of  it."  And  when  remonstrated 
with,  on  account  of  his  making  appointments  of  those 
who  were  notoriously  opposed  to  his  renomination,  he 
said  :  "  If  this  man  is  likely  to  make  a  good  and  faithful 
public  officer,  as  I  believe  he  is,  have  I  any  right  to  in- 
quire further?  " 

In  fact,  Lincoln  trusted  the  people,  and  he  knew  that 
the  people  trusted  him.  The  result  justified  this  calm 
and  unruffled  confidence.  The  Republican  National  Con- 
vention was  held  in  Baltimore,  June  8,  1864.  By  this 
time  Lincoln's  renomination  was  so  assured  that  almost  no 


LINCOLN  RENOMINATED.  413 

man  who  offered  himself  as  a  delegate  to  that  convention 
was  opposed  to  him.  The  only  strife  in  the  convention 
was  for  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  bring  Lincoln's 
name  before  the  delegates  for  their  approval.  Lincoln 
was  nominated  with  scarcely  a  dissenting  vote,  and  in  the 
midst  of  a  vociferous  enthusiasm  that  rivalled  that  of  the 
famous  Chicago  convention  of  1860,  when  the  name  of 
the  son  of  the  backwoods  and  the  frontier  was  first 
brought  before  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  a 
candidate  for  the  chief  magistracy.  Andrew  Johnson, 
of  Tennessee,  who  had  won  popular  confidence  and  re- 
nown as  military  governor  of  that  State,  was  nominated 
for  the  vice-presidency.  This  nomination  was  made 
from  motives  of  political  policy.  Johnson,  born  in  a 
slave  State,  was  a  fierce  and  uncompromising  supporter 
of  the  Union,  and  correspondingly  fierce  in  his  hatred  of 
rebellion.  In  the  coming  struggle  to  make  a  satisfactory 
readjustment  of  the  terms  of  union,  when  the  war  should 
be  over,  it  was  thought  he  would  strengthen  the  adminis- 
tration, as  he  would  now  strengthen  the  ticket.  The 
only  votes  cast  against  Lincoln  in  the  convention  were 
those  of  the  Missouri  delegation,  acting  under  in- 
structions. 

In  accepting  the  nomination,  Lincoln  said:  "I  view 
this  call  to  a  second  term  as  in  no  wise  more  flattering  to 
myself  than  as  an  expression  of  the  public  judgment,  that 
I  may  better  finish  a  difficult  work  than  any  one  less 
severely  schooled  to  the  task."  At  that  time  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  forever 


4 14  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

prohibiting  slavery,  was  pending,  and,  referring  to  that, 
Lincoln  said  :  "  Such  an  amendment  as  is  now  proposed 
becomes  a  fitting  and  necessary  conclusion  to  the  final 
success  of  the  Union  cause.  Such  alone  can  meet  all 
cavils.  The  unconditional  Union  men,  North  and  South, 
perceive  its  importance  and  embrace  it.  In  the  joint 
names  of  Liberty  and  Union,  let  us  labor  to  give  it  legal 
form  and  practical  effect." 

In  August  of  that  year,  the  Democratic  National  Con- 
vention met  in  Chicago.  There  were  two  factions  in  that 
party,  as  in  the  Republican  party,  although  the  Republi- 
cans were  not  seriously  disturbed  by  partisan  jealousies. 
One  of  the  factions  was  in  favor  of  carrying  on  the  war, 
the  other  was  inclined  to  favor  a  policy  of  peaceful  compro- 
mise. Multitudes  of  so-called  "  War  Democrats,"  how- 
ever, were  now  virtually  acting  with  the  Republicans, 
manfully  supporting  the  war  policy  of  the  administration, 
and  likely  to  vote  for  Lincoln's  re-election.  Speaking  of 
the  embarrassed  position  of  the  Democrats,  just  before 
the  convention  of  that  party  in  1864,  Lincoln  shrewdly 
said :  "  They  must  nominate  a  war  candidate  on  a  peace 
platform,  or  a  peace  candidate  on  a  war  platform,  and, 
so  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  I  don't  much  care 
which  they  do." 

The  result  justified  Lincoln's  sagacity.  General  George 
B.  McClellan  was  nominated  for  the  presidency,  and  the 
platform  declared  that  "  After  four  years  of  failure  to  re- 
store the  Union  by  war,  .  .  .  immediate  efforts  should 
be  made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an 


Me  CLELLA  N  NOMINA  TED.  4 1  5 

ultimate  convention  of  the  States,  or  other  practicable 
means,  to  the  end  that  peace  may  be  restored  on  the 
basis  of  the  federal  Union  of  the  States." 

The  two  conventions  had  now  presented  the  great  issue 
to  the  people.  The  Baltimore  convention  that  nominated 
Lincoln  had  declared  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Lincoln,  who  had  thus  far  been  at  the  head  of  the 
national  government.  The  Chicago  convention,  giving 
the  sentiments  and  opinions  of  the  Democrats,  had  de- 
clared in  favor  of  an  armistice,  a  cessation  of  hostilities, 
in  order  that  some  form  of  compromise  might  be  agreed 
upon,  and  had  nominated  McClellan,  popularly  believed 
to  be  a  failure  as  a  general.  Associated  with  him,  as 
candidate  for  the  vice-presidency,  was  George  H.  Pendle- 
ton,  of  Ohio,  a  Democratic  Representative  of  Congress, 
who  had  consistently  opposed  the  war  and  every  legisla- 
tive act  necessary  for  its  maintenance. 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  radical  Republicans  had  held 
a  convention  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  call  for  which  had 
declared  that  the  liberties  of  the  people  were  in  danger, 
and  insisted  on  the  "  one-term  principle  "  being  applied 
to  the  presidential  office.  It  was  to  this  convention  that 
Lincoln  applied  the  epithet  of  the  "  Cave  of  Adullam," 
into  which  were  gathered  all  who  were  in  distress,  or  in 
debt,  or  trouble,  or  who  had  a  grievance.  General  Fremont 
was  nominated  for  the  presidency,  and  John  Cochrane,  of 
New  York,  was  chosen  candidate  for  the  vice-presidency. 
In  due  course  of  time,  this  ticket  and  the  movement  that 


41 6  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

produced  it  crumbled  into  pieces,  having  no  reasonable 
foundation,  and  the  candidates  disappeared  beneath  the 
surface  of  American  politics  and  were  heard  of  no  more. 

The  condition  of  the  rebel  confederacy  was  now  grow- 
ing more  and  more  hopeless,  as  the  lines  of  the  federal 
forces,  under  Grant's  management,  were  tightened  around 
it.  Naval  successes  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the 
pressure  from  every  direction  on  the  land,  made  them- 
selves felt  in  the  heart  of  the  confederacy.  Significantly, 
as  it  would  appear,  the  talk  in  the  North  about  the  possi- 
bility of  securing  peace  by  some  sort  of  compromise  grew 
more  and  more  common.  It  seemed  to  be  the  intention 
of  the  Northern  friends  of  the  rebels  to  make  men  famil- 
iar with  this  idea.  The  horrors  and  miseries  of  war  were 
dwelt  upon  with  greater  persistence  as  the  hope  of  finally 
crushing  the  rebellion  became  more  reasonable. 

Finally,  two  rebel  emissaries,  Clement  C.  Clay,  of  Ala- 
bama, and  Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi  (formerly 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  President  Buchanan), 
appeared  on  the  Canadian  border,  not  far  from  Niagara, 
and  put  themselves  in  communication  with  Horace  Gree- 
ley,  the  erratic  but  patriotic  editor.  This  gentleman,  on 
the  7th  of  July,  1864,  wrote  to  Lincoln,  asking  him  to 
grant  a  safe-conduct  to  these  emissaries,  in  order  that  they 
might  come  to  Washington  and  discuss  terms  of  peace. 
Mr.  Greeley  said  : 

"  I  venture  to  remind  you  that  our  bleeding,  bankrupt,  al- 
most dying  country  longs  for  peace — shudders  at  the  prospect 
of  fresh  conscriptions,  of  further  wholesale  devastations,  and 


PEACE   NEGOTIATIONS  AT  NIAGARA.  417 

of  new  rivers  of  human  blood  ;  and  a  widespread  conviction 
that  the  government  and  its  supporters  are  not  anxious  for 
peace,  and  do  not  improve  proffered  opportunities  to  achieve 
it,  is  doing  great  harm  now,  and  is  morally  certain,  unless 
removed,  to  do  far  greater  in  the  approaching  elections." 

In  his  letter  Mr.  Greeley  submitted  a  basis  of  negotia- 
tions, the  first  two  items  of  which  were  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery. 

To  this,  Lincoln  replied  in  writing,  as  follows  :  "  If  you 
can  find  any  person,  anywhere,  professing  to  have  author- 
ity from  Jefferson  Davis,  in  writing,  embracing  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Union  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery,  what- 
ever else  it  embraces,  say  to  him  that  he  may  come  to  me 
with  you."  Some  correspondence  thereupon  ensued,  and 
Mr.  Greeley  went  to  Niagara  Falls  to  hold  an  interview 
with  the  rebel  emissaries.  The  President  sent,  by  the 
hand  of  Colonel  John  Hay,  one  of  his  private  secretaries, 
the  following  missive  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

"WASHINGTON,  July  18,  1864. 
"  To  whom  it  may  concern  : 

"  Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of  peace, 
the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of 
slavery,  and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can 
control  the  armies  now  at  war  against  the  United  States,  will 
be  received  and  considered  by  the  Executive  government  of 
the  United  States,  and  will  be  met  on  liberal  terms  on  substan- 
tial and  collateral  points  ;  and  the  bearer  or  bearers  thereof 
shall  have  safe-conduct  both  ways. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


41 8  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  agents  who  desired  to  go 
to  Washington  had  no  authority  whatever  to  treat  for 
peace.  They  insisted  that  they  were  in  the  confidential 
employment  of  the  Richmond  government,  but  for  what 
purpose  they  would  not  declare.  They  professed  great 
disappointment  that  there  should  have  been  "a  rude  with- 
drawal of  a  courteous  overture  for  negotiation,  at  the  mo- 
ment when  it  was  likely  to  be  accepted,"  and  they  straight- 
way departed  to  their  own  place.  The  fact  was  that 
Lincoln  was  in  a  far  better  position  to  ascertain  the  de- 
sires and  wishes  of  the  rebel  leaders  than  any  private  citi- 
zen could  be,  and  that  from  the  first  he  knew  that  no  sin- 
cere proposition,  such  as  Mr.  Greeley  hoped  might  be 
forthcoming,  would  be  made  by  the  government  at  Rich- 
mond. That  government  was  unlikely  to  consent  to  any 
terms  that  would  involve  its  own  dissolution.  The  inci- 
dent, however,  was  made  much  of  by  the  so-called  Peace 
Democrats,  as  well  as  by  some  of  the  less  steady  of  the 
Republicans.  Experiments  like  this  at  Niagara  Falls 
were  discussed  eagerly  by  the  opponents  of  Lincoln's  re- 
election, and  this  discussion  influenced  the  managers  of 
the  Democratic  convention  of  that  year  to  declare  for  a 
peaceful  compromise  with  the  rebels — as  if  that  were  pos- 
sible or  practicable. 

Many  leading  Republican  Congressmen  were  angry  with 
the  President  for  what  they  considered  his  indiscreet  ne- 
gotiations with  rebel  envoys.  He  was  not  long  in  finding 
this  out,  and  one  day,  after  asking  a  friendly  visitor  what 
people  were  talking  about,  he  said,  wearily  :  "  Well,  it  's 


FIVE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  MEN  CALLED  OUT.   419 

hardly  fair  to  say  that  this  won't  amount  to  any  thing.* 
It  will  shut  up  Greeley,  and  satisfy  the  people  who  are 
clamoring  for  peace.  That  's  something,  anyhow." 

In  October,  of  this  year,  Maryland,  by  a  popular  vote, 
amended  its  constitution,  and  abolished  slavery.  This 
was  a  gratifying  event  to  all  friends  of  freedom,  and  Lin- 
coln was  greatly  elated  thereby.  To  a  friend  he  said  : 
"  It  is  worth  many  victories  in  the  field.  It  cleans  up  a 
piece  of  ground."  This  homely  figure,  suggested  by  his 
backwoods  experiences,  is  full  of  meaning  to  those  who 
know  the  almost  endless  difficulties  of  clearing  a  piece  of 
the  wilderness  and  making  it  fit  for  good  seed.  In  answer 
to  a  serenade  from  enthusiastic  Marylanders,  about  that 
time,  Lincoln  said,  referring  to  a  current  statement  that 
he  would  do  his  best  to  prevent  any  successor  to  himself 
from  taking  the  office,  in  case  of  an  election  that  should 
defeat  him  : 

"  I  am  struggling  to  maintain  the  government,  not  to  over- 
throw it.  I  am  struggling  specially  to  prevent  others  from 
overthrowing  it.  I  therefore  say  that,  if  I  live,  I  shall  be 
President  until  the  4th  of  next  March,  and  that  whoever  shall 
be  constitutionally  elected  in  November  shall  be  duly  installed 
on  the  4th  of  March  ;  and,  in  the  interval,  I  shall  do  my  ut- 
most that  whoever  is  to  hold  the  helm  for  the  next  voyage, 
shall  start  with  the  best  possible  chance  for  saving  the  ship." 

The  losses  of  the  war  required  that  fresh  levies  of  troops 
should  be  made.  Many  timid  people,  anxious  for  Lin- 
coln's re-election,  advised  that  a  call  for  men  and  the  en- 
forcement of  a  draft  should  be  put  off  until  after  the  elec- 


420  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

tion  had  taken  place.  To  such  advice,  Lincoln  turned  a 
deaf  ear.  He  replied  that  more  men  must  be  had,  if  the 
war  was  to  go  on  to  a  successful  termination,  and  that  the 
consequences  to  him,  personally,  or  to  the  party  that  had 
nominated  him,  were  so  insignificant,  compared  with  the 
actual  necessities  of  the  country,  that  he  could  not  for  a 
moment  consider  them.  The  call  was  accordingly  issued 
for  five  hundred  thousand  men.  If  the  required  number 
did  not  appear  by  the  5th  of  September,  1864,  then  a  draft 
must  be  ordered.  Lincoln's  timorous  friends  were  aghast 
at  the  prospect. 

The  election  resulted  in  an  overwhelming  majority  for 
Lincoln.  Every  State  that  voted,  that  year,  declared  for 
Lincoln  and  Lincoln's  policy,  three  alone  excepted.  These 
were  Delaware,  Kentucky,  and  New  Jersey.  The  two 
first-named  were  formerly  slave-holding  States.  The  to- 
tal number  of  votes  cast  in  all  the  States,  was  4,015,902, 
of  which  Lincoln  had  a  clear  majority  of  41 1,428,  and  212 
of  the  233  electoral  votes,  McClellan  having  twenty-one 
electoral  votes.  Lincoln  very  naturally  felt  gratified  by 
this  mark  of  popular  approval  and  confidence.  He  said 
this  to  the  first  party  that  came  to  congratulate  him  on 
his  re-election — a  company  of  Pennsylvanians  in  Washing- 
ton. And  he  added  :  "  If  I  know  my  heart,  my  grati- 
tude is  free  from  any  taint  of  personal  triumph.  I  do  not 
impugn  the  motives  of  any  one  opposed  to  me.  It  is  no 
pleasure  to  me  to  triumph  over  any  one  ;  but  I  give  thanks 
to  the  Almighty  for  this  evidence  of  the  people's  resolution 
to  stand  by  free  government  and  the  rights  of  humanity." 


LINCOLN  RE-ELECTED.  421 

To  a  personal  friend,  he  said  :  "  Being  only  mortal,  af- 
ter all,  I  should  have  been  a  little  mortified  if  I  had  been 
beaten  in  this  canvass  before  the  people  ;  but  the  sting 
would  have  been  more  than  compensated  by  the  thought 
that  the  people  had  notified  me  that  my  official  responsi- 
bilities were  soon  to  be  lifted  off  my  back."  On  the  day 
after  the  election,  he  asked  this  friend  to  send  to  his  old 
companion,  Dr.  A.  G.  Henry,  formerly  of  Springfield,  but 
then  in  Washington  Territory,  a  despatch,  which  he  would 
dictate,  announcing  the  result  of  the  election.  That  mat- 
ter having  been  disposed  of,  the  two  men  fell  to  talking 
about  the  election  and  the  term  of  office  now  drawing  to 
an  end.  Lincoln  was  in  good  spirits,  and  even  jovial. 
Then,  with  solemn  gravity,  he  said  :  "  I  should  be  the 
veriest  shallow  and  self-conceited  blockhead  upon  the 
foot-stool,  if,  in  my  discharge  of  the  duties  that  are 
put  upon  me  in  this  place,  I  should  hope  to  get  along 
without  the  wisdom  that  comes  from  God  and  not  from 
men." 

Lincoln  had  been  tolerably  certain  of  his  renomination ; 
he  was  not  wholly  confident  of  his  re-election.  On  the 
day  of  the  election,  he  said  :  "  I  am  just  enough  of  a  pol- 
itician to  know  that  there  was  not  much  doubt  about  the 
result  of  the  Baltimore  convention  ;  but  about  this  thing 
I  am  not  certain.  I  wish  I  were  certain." 

This  is  the  cautious  way  in  which  Lincoln  authorized 
the  announcement  of  his  re-election  to  be  sent  to  his 
old  friend  on  the  Pacific  border,  on  the  day  after  the 
election  : 


422  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

"  WASHINGTON,  November  9,  1864. 
"  To  A.  G.  HENRY,  Surveyor-General, 

"  Olympia,  Washington  Territory. 

"  With  returns,  and  States  of  which  we  are  confident,  the  re- 
election of  the  President  is  considered  certain,  while  it  is  not 
certain  that  McClellan  has  carried  any  State,  though  the 
chances  are  that  he  has  carried  New  Jersey  and  Kentucky." 

When  he  was  reminded  that  Dr.  Henry  would  prefer 
that  the  telegram  should  be  verified  by  Lincoln's  signa- 
ture, he  said  :  "  Oh  no,  you  sign  it  for  me.  You  see,  it  is 
written  that  way  ;  and  though  I  should  like  to  please  the 
good  old  doctor,  I  don't  think  it  would  look  well  for  a  mes- 
sage from  me  to  go  travelling  around  the  country  blowing 
my  own  horn.  You  sign  the  message  and  I  will  send  it." 
The  result  of  the  Delaware  election  was  in  doubt  for 
several  days,  and  when  it  was  definitely  decided,  Lincoln, 
even  in  the  midst  of  his  cares  and  overwhelmed  with  con- 
gratulations and  visits,  recalled  the  fact  that  he  had 
omitted  to  send  word  to  his  old  friend  in  the  far-off 
Pacific  territory  that  three  States,  instead  of  two,  had 
voted  for  McClellan,  and  a  supplementary  telegram  was 
sent.  "  Not  because  the  doctor  would  n't  hear  of  it,"  he 
explained,  "  but  because  he  might  think  it  odd  that  I 
should  not  correct  my  first  statement  and  clear  it  up." 

With  great  persistence,  the  Northern  friends  of  South- 
ern rebels  renewed  the  talk  about  peace  and  compromise, 
during  the  winter  of  1864-5.  The  atmosphere  of  Wash- 
ington was  full  of  rumors,  and,  as  it  subsequently  trans- 
pired, messengers,  more  or  less  official,  were  flitting  be- 


RENEWED  TALK  OF  PEACE.  423 

tween  the  capital  and  the  rebel  lines.  One  of  these  was 
the  venerable  Francis  P.  Blair,  senior,  a  private  citizen, 
with  large  political  influence  and  experience.  Armed 
with  a  safe-conduct,  or  pass,  signed  by  Lincoln,  Mr.  Blair 
went  to  Richmond,  saw  Jefferson  Davis,  and  returned  to 
Washington  with  a  letter  addressed  to  himself  by  the 
president  of  the  rebel  confederacy,  the  contents  of  which 
he  was  authorized  to  communicate  to  Lincoln.  In  that 
document  Davis  said  that  he  was  willing,  and  always  had 
been,  to  send  commissioners  to  Washington  "  to  enter 
into  a  conference  with  a  view  to  secure  peace  in  the  two 
countries."  Of  course,  this  phrase,  "  the  two  countries," 
showed  that  Davis  was  not  prepared  to  discuss  peace  on 
any  basis  of  union.  But  Lincoln,  who  was  weary  of  the 
constant  criticism  of  his  course  by  those  who  insisted  that 
he  could  end  the  war  honorably,  if  he  chose  to,  gave  Mr. 
Blair  a  note  in  which  he  stated  that  he  had  read  the  note 
from  Jefferson  Davis,  and  that  he,  Lincoln,  was  ready,  as 
he  always  had  been,  and  would  continue  to  be,  to  receive 
any  agent  or  influential  person  sent  to  him  by  the  rebel 
authorities  to  treat  on  terms  of  peace  with  a  view  of 
securing  peace  to  the  people  of  "  our  common  country." 

The  correspondence  thus  opened  resulted  in  the  de- 
spatching of  three  agents  by  Davis  to  meet  the  President 
and  confer  with  him  concerning  peace,  on  the  basis  of 
Lincoln's  letter  to  Blair.  These  commissioners,  Messrs. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and  John  A. 
Campbell,  were  received  at  General  Grant's  camp  and  were 
given  Lincoln's  basis  of  agreement,  which  was  as  follows : 


424  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

"  First.  The  restoration  of  the  national  authority  throughout 
all  the  States. 

"  Second.  No  receding  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States 
on  the  slavery  question  from  the  position  assumed  thereon 
in  the  late  annual  message  to  Congress  and  in  preceding 
documents. 

"  Third.  No  cessation  of  hostilities,  short  of  the  disbanding 
of  all  forces  hostile  to  the  government." 

Obviously,  unless  some  great  change  had  come  over  the 
men  who  managed  the  rebel  government,  not  one  of  these 
indispensable  conditions  could  be  agreed  to  by  them. 
They  were  asked  to  give  up  their  cherished  scheme  of  a 
slave  confederacy ;  and  they  would  not  be  permitted  to 
expect  that  the  military  lines  now  closing  in  upon  them 
would  be  in  the  least  relaxed,  whatever  negotiations 
might  be  pending.  Secretary  Seward  was  charged  by  the 
President  with  the  duty  of  representing  the  national  au- 
thority in  the  proposed  conference.  The  excitement  in 
Washington  was  very  great  when  it  was  noised  abroad 
that  Seward  had  gone  to  Fortress  Monroe  to  meet  three 
rebel  commissioners.  But  excitement  was  turned  to  in- 
dignation when  it  was  learned  that  the  President,  solici- 
tous as  to  the  complexion  that  the  interview  might  take, 
had  followed  the  Secretary.  The  enemies  of  Lincoln, 
especially  those  of  the  radical  class,  affected  wrath  and 
mortification  that  he  had  so  far  forgotten  his  dignity  as 
to  meet  in  amity  the  representatives  of  the  enemy  whom 
we  were  fighting  in  the  field.  It  was  also  charged  that 
the  President,  afraid  that  Seward  would  not  make  suf- 
ficiently large  concessions,  had  gone  to  Fortress  Monroe 


A    PEACE    CONFERENCE   AT  HAMPTON  ROADS.    425 

to  make  sure  that  every  thing  that  the  rebel  commission- 
ers asked  should  be  granted,  if  possible. 

Congress  was  in  session  and  excited  politicians  went 
about  the  Capitol,  eagerly  discussing  the  scanty  news 
relating  to  the  conference  that  had  been  allowed  to  leak 
out.  It  was  a  time  of  general  suspense  and  anxiety. 
Meanwhile,  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State  had 
met  the  three  rebel  commissioners  on  board  a  steamer  an- 
chored in  the  roadstead  off  Fortress  Monroe.  The  con- 
ference lasted  several  hours,  during  which  the  commis- 
sioners were  explicitly  informed  that  there  could  be  no 
receding  from  the  position  taken  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States  on  the  slavery  question  ;  that  the  eman- 
cipation proclamation  of  the  President  could  not  be 
recalled  or  amended  ;  that  Congress  had  passed  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  abolishing 
slavery  ;  that  this  amendment  would  doubtless  be  ratified 
by  the  requisite  number  of  the  States — three-fourths  of  the 
whole ;  and  that  none  of  these  matters  could  be  modified 
in  any  way. 

The  commissioners  urged  in  vain  that  there  should  be 
a  cessation  of  hostilities  while  negotiations  were  pending, 
and  they  manifested  willingness  to  negotiate  on  the  basis 
prepared  by  Lincoln.  But  Lincoln  saw,  as  he  afterwards 
declared,  that  the  sole  purpose  of  the  conference  was  to 
secure  an  armistice,  or  truce,  under  some  pretence  of 
debate,  during  which  renewed  preparations  of  war  should 
be  made  by  the  almost  defeated  rebels.  Lincoln  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  all  suggestions  of  this  sort ;  on  the  contrary, 


426  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

while  the  matter  was  yet  pending,  he  wrote  to  General 
Grant,  saying :  "  Let  nothing  that  is  transpiring  change, 
hinder,  or  delay  your  military  movements  or  plans." 

Lincoln  saw,  from  the  beginning,  that  the  conference 
would  be  resultless.  Great  relief  was  felt  in  Washington 
when  the  President  and  the  Secretary  returned  from  Fort- 
ress Monroe,  and  the  public  curiosity  to  learn  what  had 
happened  was  stimulated  to  a  painful  pitch.  It  soon 
leaked  out,  however,  that  the  conference  had  been  fruit- 
less, and  hostile  critics  and  unfriendly  politicians  were  sure 
that  the  President  had  needlessly  abased  himself.  The 
House  of  Representatives  passed  a  resolution  calling  on 
the  President  for  a  report  of  his  doings,  so  far  as  this 
could  be  consistent  with  the  public  welfare.  The  docu- 
ments sent  in  answer  to  this  request  were  read  to  the 
House  in  the  midst  of  a  breathless  silence. 

The  reading  of  the  papers  submitted  lifted  a  great  load 
from  the  minds  of  loyal  men.  They  saw  that  the  Pres- 
ident had  not  abated  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his  official  dignity ; 
that  his  sagacity  and  shrewdness  had  been  once  more 
triumphantly  vindicated,  and  that  the  question  of  peace- 
ful and  honorable  compromise  was  now  forever  settled. 
The  clamor  of  the  advocates  of  a  peaceful  adjustment  was 
effectually  silenced.  As  the  reading  -of  the  documents 
went  on  in  the  House,  the  clouds  of  doubt  and  suspicion 
rolled  away ;  the  friends  of  the  President  were  elated,  and, 
when  the  reading  was  concluded,  a  burst  of  uncontrollable 
applause  followed,  and  men  saw  and  honored  the  wisdom 
with  which  Lincoln  had  conducted  the  whole  affair,  from 


THE  PRESIDENT  AND  MR.  HUNTER.  427 

first  to  last.  He  had  exhausted  all  honorable  means  to 
secure  peace. 

The  vice-president  of  the  confederacy,  Mr.  Stephens, 
who  was  one  of  the  rebel  commissioners,  greatly  admired 
the  character  of  Lincoln,  and,  on  his  return  to  his  own 
place,  he  authorized  a  publication  of  an  informal  report  of 
the  doings  at  the  Hampton  Roads  conference.  It  was 
highly  creditable,  on  the  whole,  to  Lincoln,  and,  being 
reproduced  in  Northern  newspapers,  added  to  the  popular 
affection  for  the  President. 

The  reproach  that  Lincoln  had  gone  to  assist  Seward  at 
the  conference  was  removed  when  people  saw,  in  Lincoln's 
instructions  to  Seward,  the  phrase  "  you  are  not  on  any 
account  to  conclude  any  thing  definitely."  Another 
point  that  attracted  general  attention  and  satisfied  the 
people  was  Lincoln's  steadfast  and  determined  refusal  to 
recognize  the  commissioners  as  official  personages,  or 
representatives  of  official  personages.  He  would  not 
admit  the  separate  independence  of  any  States  that  were 
a  part  of  the  American  republic.  "  That,"  he  said,  "  would 
be  doing  what  you  have  so  long  in  vain  asked  Europe  to 
do,  and  be  resigning  the  only  thing  the  armies  of  the 
Union  have  been  fighting  for."  In  pressing  the  point 
upon  Lincoln's  mind,  one  of  the  commissioners,  Mr. 
Hunter,  insisted  that  the  recognition  of  Davis'  power  to 
make  treaties  was  the  first  and  indispensable  step  towards 
peace ;  and  he  cited  the  correspondence  between  King 
Charles  I.,  of  England,  and  his  Parliament  as  a  good 
precedent  justifying  him  in  taking  that  step.  To  this 


428  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  replied:  "Upon  questions  of  history  I  must 
refer  you  to  Mr.  Seward,  for  he  is  posted  in  such  things, 
and  I  don't  pretend  to  be  bright.  My  only  distinct 
recollection  of  the  matter  is  that  Charles  lost  his  head." 
That  settled  Mr.  Hunter  for  a  while. 

About  the  time  that  Lincoln  was  preparing  his  message 
to  Congress,  which  assembled  in  December  of  that  year, 
Sherman  was  on  his  way  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea.  The 
object  of  his  march  was  unknown  to  the  general  public, 
but,  so  implicit  was  the  people's  confidence  in  the  great 
General  that  there  was  no  disquiet  as  to  his  ultimate  suc- 
cess. Some  supposed  that  he  would  be  heard  from,  after 
a  while,  at  some  point  on  the  rebel  line  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  others  believed  that  he  would  come  out  of 
"the  bowels  of  the  land"  at  an  Atlantic  port.  On  this 
point,  Lincoln  maintained  a  strict  silence.  Sherman  had 
cut  loose  from  all  connections,  and  was  ploughing  his  way 
through  the  heart  of  the  confederacy.  That  was  all  that 
was  known  outside  of  a  small  official  circle.  Lincoln 
delayed  the  conclusion  of  his  annual  message,  as  long  as 
possible,  hoping  to  be  able  to  report  in  it  the  successful 
termination  of  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea.  When  the 
message  was  sent  to  Congress,  he  contented  himself  with 
a  vague  reference  to  Sherman's  movements,  from  which, 
he  intimated,  good  results  would  come. 

While  this  message  was  in  course  of  preparation,  he 
had  an  interview  with  two  ladies,  wives  of  rebel  officers, 
prisoners  of  war  in  one  of  the  federal  strongholds  of  the 
North.  Taking  one  of  the  stiff  strips  of  cardboard  on 


"LAST,  SHORTEST,  AND  BEST  SPEECH"          429 

which  his  message  was  first  sketched,  he  wrote  out  and 
gave  to  a  personal  friend  a  report  of  the  interview,  which 
he  called  "  the  President's  last,  shortest,  and  best  speech." 
This  he  submitted  to  the  critical  judgment  of  his  friend, 
adding  that  if  he  thought  it  worth  while  it  might  be 
printed  in  the  newspapers.  It  was  as  follows  : 

"  On  Thursday  of  last  week  two  ladies  from  Tennessee 
came  before  the  President,  asking  the  release  of  their  husbands, 
held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Johnson's  Island.  They  were  put 
off  until  Friday,  when  they  came  again,  and  were  again  put  off 
until  Saturday.  At  each  of  the  interviews  one  of  the  ladies 
urged  that  her  husband  was  a  religious  man.  On  Saturday, 
when  the  President  ordered  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  he 
said  to  this  lady :  '  You  say  your  husband  is  a  religious  man  ; 
tell  him  when  you  meet  him  that  I  say  I  am  not  much  of  a 
judge  of  religion,  but  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  religion  that  sets 
men  to  rebel  and  fight  against  their  government  because,  as 
they  think,  that  government  does  not  sufficiently  help  some 
men  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces,  is  not 
the  sort  of  religion  upon  which  people  can  get  to  heaven.'  " 

It  will  be  seen  that  one  figure  in  this  little  story,  that 
of  "  eating  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces," 
reappears  in  Lincoln's  second  inaugural. 

The  second  inauguration  of  Lincoln  took  place,  March 
4,  1 86^.  The  day  was  dark  and  dismal  in  the  opening 
hours,  but  the  rain  ceased  when  the  procession  from  the 
White  House  to  the  Capitol  began  to  move ;  and,  as  Lincoln 
rose  to  deliver  his  inaugural  address,  the  sun  burst  through 
the  clouds,  irradiating  the  scene  with  splendor  and  light. 
It  was  a  hopeful  omen,  and,  speaking  of  it  next  day, 


430  THE  LIFE   OF  LIA'COLM. 

Lincoln,  with  tears  gathering  in  his  eyes,  said  :  "  It  made 
my  heart  jump  !  Let  us  accept  it  as  a  good  sign,  my  dear 
friends."  A  tinge  of  superstition  pervaded  Lincoln's 
nature,  and  more  than  once  he  spoke  of  the  sunburst  that 
had  illumined  the  sky  as  he  stood  on  the  steps  of  the 
beautiful  Capitol  to  assume  the  obligations  of  another 
term  of  the  presidency,  obligations  from  which  death  was 
so  soon  to  release  him.  It  was  a  brilliant  scene,  and 
many  thousands  were  impressed  with  the  solemnity,  as 
well  as  the  joyousness  of  the  occasion,  as  they  called  to 
mind  the  gloom,  doubt,  and  uncertainty  that  had  charac- 
terized the  first  inauguration.  With  a  clear,  resonant 
voice,  standing  bareheaded  under  the  March  sky,  now 
softened  and  suffused  with  sunlight,  Lincoln  pronounced 
his  masterly  address,  as  follows : 

"  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN  :  At  this  season,  appearing  to  take 
the  oath  of  the  presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for 
an  extended  address  than  there  was  at  first.  Then,  a  state- 
ment somewhat  in  detail  of  a  course  to  be  pursued,  seemed 
very  fitting  and  proper.  Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four  years, 
during  which  public  declarations  have  been  constantly  called 
forth  on  every  point  and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still 
absorbs  the  attention  and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation, 
little  that  is  new  could  be  presented.  The  progress  of  our 
arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly  depends,  is  as  well  known  to 
the  public  as  to  myself,  and  it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory 
and  encouraging  to  all.  With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no 
prediction  in  regard  to  it  is  ventured. 

"  On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this,  four  years  ago,  all 
thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil  war. 
All  dreaded  it,  all  sought  to  avoid  it.  While  the  inaugural 


THE   SECOND  INAUGURATION.  431 

address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place,  devoted  altogether 
to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  insurgent  agents  were  in  the 
city,  seeking  to  destroy  it  with  war — seeking  to  dissolve  the 
Union,  and  divide  the  effects  by  negotiation.  Both  parties 
deprecated  war,  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather  than 
let  the  nation  survive,  and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather 
than  let  it  perish  ;  and  the  war  came.  One  eighth  of  the  whole 
population  were  colored  slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over 
the  Union,  but  localized  in  the  southern  part  of  it.  These 
slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew 
that  this  interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war.  To 
strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest,  was  the  object 
for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union  by  war,  while 
the  government  claimed  no  right  to  do  more  than  to  restrict 
the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 

"  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or  the 
duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated 
that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even  before 
the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an  easier 
triumph,  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astounding. 

"  Both  read  the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same  God,  and 
each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange 
that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in 
wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces. 
But  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged.  The  prayer  of 
both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of  neither  has  been  an- 
swered fully.  The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes.  '  Woe 
unto  the  world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offences  come,  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence 
cometh  ! '  If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one  of 
these  offences,  which  in  the  providence  of  God  must  needs 
come,  but  which,  having  continued  through  his  appointed  time, 
he  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  he  gives  to  both  North  and 
South  this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the 
offence  came,  shall  we  discern  there  any  departure  from  those 
divine  attributes  which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always 


432  THE   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

ascribe  to  'him  ?  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray, 
that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet 
if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the 
bondsman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil 
shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the 
lash  shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn  by  the  sword,  as  was  said 
three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  that  '  the 
judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.' 

"With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firm- 
ness in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  finish 
the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  to  care  for 
him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his 
orphans,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a 
lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  effect  of  the  reading  of 
this  paper  upon  those  who  heard  it,  and  those  who  subse- 
quently read  it.  Its  lofty  tone  and  grand  majesty  re- 
minded one  of  the  Hebraic  prophecies  ;  and  its  dispassion- 
ate and  almost  merciless  dissection  of  the  issues  of  the 
struggle  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  the  dying 
contortions  of.  the  monster,  slavery,  were  received  with 
a  feeling  of  awe.  The  impression  made  by  the  inaugural 
was  profound.  It  was  conclusive  of  the  genius  and  the 
intellectual  greatness  of  its  author.  From  that  time  forth, 
the  world  gave  among  its  orators  and  statesmen  a  high 
place  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  noblest  and  richest  type 
of  American  manhood,  had  at  last  reached  his  culminat- 
ing period. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   FAMILY   IN   THE   WHITE   HOUSE. 

Plain  Living  and  Simple  Manners — Lincoln's  Kindness  and  His  Righteous 
Wrath — The  Sons  of  Lincoln — The  Boy  of  the  White  House — The 
President  and  His  Cabinet — Threats  of  Assassination — Lincoln  and 
Chase — The  President's  Dealing  with  Office-Seekers — Sundry  An- 
ecdotes. 

SIMPLICITY  was  the  main  characteristic  of  the  life 
of  the  Lincoln  family  in  the  White  House.  Lin- 
coln's nature,  as  we  have  seen,  was  averse  to  display  of  any 
sort  that  made  him  or  his  prominent  in  the  eyes  of  men. 
No  man  was  ever  more  free  from  affectation,  and  the  dis- 
taste that  he  felt  for  form,  ceremony,  and  personal  parade 
was  genuine.  Yet  he  was  not  without  a  certain  dignity  of 
bearing  and  character  that  commanded  respect.  At  times, 
too,  he  rebuked  those  who  presumed  too  far  on  his  habitu- 
al good-nature  and  affable  kindness.  On  one  occasion, 
a  deputation  of  citizens  concerned  in  the  distribution  of 
offices  in  a  distant  State  waited  upon  him,  with  a  remon- 
strance against  certain  pending  appointments.  Their  ob- 
jections were  committed  to  writing,  and  the  spokesman  of 
the  party  read  it  to  the  President.  It  chanced  that  the 
paper  contained  an  implied  reflection  on  his  old  friend, 
Senator  Baker,  then  a  guest  in  the  White  House.  Lin- 

433 


434  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

coin  listened  silently  to  the  reading  of  the  document,  a 
faint  flush  mounting  his  sallow  cheeks.  Then  he  said, 
taking  the  paper:  "Is  this  paper  mine,  to  do  with  as  I 
please  ?  "  The  spokesman  replied :  "  Certainly,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent." The  President  calmly  laid  the  document  on  the 
blazing  coals  in  the  fireplace  and  said :  "  Good-morning, 
gentlemen." 

Afterwards,  speaking  of  the  anger  that  the  delegation 
were  said  to  have  manifested  when  they  went  out  of  the 
audience-chamber,  Lincoln  said : 

"  The  paper  was  an  unjust  attack  upon  my  dearest  personal 
friend,  Ned  Baker,  who  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  my 
family.  The  delegation  did  not  know  what  they  were  talking 
about  when  they  made  him  responsible,  almost  abusively,  for 
what  I  had  done,  or  proposed  to  do.  They  told  me  that  that 
was  my  paper,  to  do  with  as  I  liked.  I  could  not  trust  myself 
to  reply  in  words  :  I  was  so  angry.  That  was  the  whole  case." 

On  another  occasion,  a  still  more  audacious  petitioner, 
introduced  by  a  strong  letter  from  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States,  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  break  out  with 
profane  language  in  the  presence  of  Lincoln.  The  Presi- 
dent, when  the  offence  was  repeated  a  second  time,  rose 
with  great  dignity,  opened  the  door  of  the  audience- 
chamber  and  said  :  "  I  thought  that  Senator  -  -  had 
sent  me  a  gentleman.  I  find  I  am  mistaken.  TVre  is 
the  door,  sir.  Good-evening." 

While  he  was  in  the  White  House,  as  President  or'  the 
United  States,  Lincoln  had  few  amusements.  The  times, 
so  full  of  trouble,  and  lamentation  for  the  dead  in  the 
war,  were  not  favorable  to  the  giving  of  social  or  formal 


PLAIN  LIVING  AND   SIMPLE  MANNERS. 


435 


entertainments.  There  were  occasional  dinner  parties, 
and,  early  in  the  first  presidential  term  there  was  one 
large  evening  party,  or  ball ;  but  that  was  all.  He  went 
often  to  the  theatre,  usually  accompanied  only  by  a  friend, 
and  taking  pains  to  enter  the  place  unrecognized.  He 
sought  the  theatre  only  as  a  means  of  amusing  a  spare 
hour,  diverting  his  mind  from  the  cares  and  sorrows  that 
weighed  him  down.  Naturally  fond  of  music,  he  was 


NORTH  FRONT  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

glad,  when  he  had  an  opportunity,  to  listen  to  the  singing 
or  the  playing  of  some  visitor  who  might  call  on  the 
family  of  an  evening.  And  he  seemed  to  find  his  greatest 
pleasure  in  simple  and  pathetic  ballad  music.  Generally, 
however,  he  was  kept  too  busy  in  his  cabinet,  during  the 
evening,  to  go  down  to  the  parlor,  where  Mrs.  Lincoln 
received  her  friends.  It  was  her  custom,  when  those 
called  whom  she  thought  the  President  would  like  to  see, 


436  THE  LIFE   Of-' 

to  send  him  word  ;  and  his  excuses,  if  he  did  not  come, 
were  readily  accepted. 

He  cared  little  for  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  he 
seldom  partook  of  any  but  the  plainest  and  simplest  food, 
even  when  a  more  elaborate  repast  than  usual  was  spread 
upon  the  board.  Wine  was  set  on  the  table  when  those 
who  used  it  were  guests  ;  but  Lincoln  only  maintained 
the  form  of  touching  it.  When  engrossed  with  the  cares 
of  his  office,  which  was  almost  habitually,  he  ate  irregu- 
larly, and  the  family  were  accustomed  to  see  him  come  to 
the  table  or  stay  away,  as  it  suited  his  convenience.  Even 
when  his  anxious  wife  had  sent  to  his  cabinet,  where  he 
was  engaged,  a  tray  of  food,  he  was  often  too  busy  or  too 
abstracted  to  touch  it.  And  when  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  away 
from  home,  as  sometimes  happened,  he  neglected  his 
meals  altogether,  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  browsed  around," 
eating  when  his  hunger  moved,  when  and  how  he  could 
most  conveniently.  His  youngest  son,  "  Tad,"  as  he  was 
called,  could  bring  him  out  of  his  working  or  meditative 
moods  more  readily  than  any  other  of  the  family.  When 
the  Lincolns  entered  the  White  House,  in  1861,  there 
were  three  sons  and  no  other  children.  The  eldest  was 
Robert,  eighteen  years  old  ;  Willie,  a  little  more  than  ten  ; 
and  Thomas,  or  Tad,  then  nearly  eight  years  old.  This 
little  fellow  celebrated  his  eighth  birthday  in  the  White 
House  April  4,  1863.  Robert  was  a  student  in  Phillips 
Academy,  Exeter,  N.  H.,  when  his  father  became  Presi- 
dent, and  he  entered  Harvard  University  soon  after  that 
time.  He  was  graduated  subsequently,  studied  law,  and 


PORTRAIT    OF    ROBERT    LINCOLN. 


437 


438  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

was  appointed  Secretary  of  War,  several  years  after  his 
father's  death,  serving  under  President  Garfield  and  Pres- 
ident Arthur. 

Willie,  the  second  son,  died  in  February,  1862,  during 
the  darkest  and  most  gloomy  time  of  the  long  and 
oppressive  era  of  the  war.  Possibly  this  calamity  made 
Lincoln  less  strict  with  his  youngest  boy  than  he  should 
have  been.  He  found  it  well-nigh  impossible  to  deny  Tad 
any  thing.  But  the  little  fellow,  always  a  hearty,  happy, 
and  lovable  boy,  did  not  abuse  his  privileges.  He  roamed 
the  White  House  at  will,  a  tricksy  and  restless  spirit,  as 
well  known  to  habitual  visitors  as  the  President  himself. 
Innumerable  stories  might  be  told  of  the  child's  native 
wit,  his  courage,  his  adventurousness,  and  his  passionate 
devotion  to  his  father.  He  invaded  cabinet  councils 
with  his  boyish  griefs  or  tales  of  adventure,  climbed  in  his 
father's  lap  when  the  President  was  engaged  with  affairs 
of  state,  and  doubtless  diverted  and  soothed  the  troubled 
mind  of  the  President,  who  loved  his  boy  with  a  certain 
tenderness  that  was  inexpressible.  It  was  Tad,  the  mer- 
curial and  irrepressible  boy  of  the  White  House,  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  great  and  the  lowly,  who  gave  to 
the  executive  mansion  almost  the  only  joyous  note  that 
echoed  through  its  corridors  and  stately  drawing-rooms 
in  those  troublous  times.  The  boy  survived  his  father, 
dying  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  after  the  family  had 
left  Washington. 

The  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  usually  addressed  each 
other  in  the  old-fashioned  manner  as  "  Father "  and 


440  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

"  Mother,"  and  it  was  very  seldom  that  Mrs.  Lincoln 
spoke  of  her  husband  as  "  the  President."  And  Lincoln, 
on  his  part,  never,  if  he  could  avoid  it,  spoke  of  himself 
as  President.  If  he  had  occasion  to  refer  to  his  high 
office,  he  spoke  of  it  as  "  this  place."  When  the  occasion 
required,  however,  his  native  dignity  asserted  itself,  and  a 
certain  simple  and  yet  influential  grandeur  was  manifested 
in  his  deportment  and  demeanor.  One  soon  forgot  in  his 
•  immediate  presence  the  native  ungainliness  of  his  figure, 
and  felt  that  he  was  in  the-personal  atmosphere  of  one  of 
the  world's  great  men.  Although  Lincoln  was  genial  and 
free  in  his  manners,  even  with  strangers,  there  was  some- 
thing in  his  bearing  that  forbade  familiarity.  Much  has 
been  said  about  his  disregard  for  dress  and  personal  ap- 
pearance, but  much  of  this  is  erroneous.  He  was  neat  in 
his  person,  scrupulously  so,  and  his  garb  was  that  of  a 
gentleman  always.  If,  in  the  seclusion  of  his  home,  he 
was  sometimes  called  out,  late  at  night,  to  hear  an  im- 
portant message  or  decide  instantly  an  affair  of  great 
moment,  he  did  not  wait  to  array  himself,  something  was 
excused  to  his  pre-occupation  and  anxiety. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  went  to  Washington  when  that  city  was 
a  hotbed  of  secession  and  treason.  Many  of  the  women 
of  the  time  were  exceedingly  bitter  against  the  new- 
comers, and  they  put  in  circulation  a  number  of  injurious 
and  absurd  stories  concerning  the  manners  and  habits  of 
the  members  of  the  Lincoln  family.  When  the  Presi- 
dent became  better  known,  men  marvelled  at  the  wanton- 
ness and  the  groundlessness  of  the  tales  that  related  to 


MJ?S.    LINCOLN.  441 

him.  But  Mrs.  Lincoln  could  not  enjoy  that  opportu- 
nity of  vindicating,  by  her  amiable  and  dignified  life,  her 
own  much-misrepresented  character.  To  this  day,  doubt- 
less, the  slanders  of  the  gossips  survive  in  some  degree 
those  evil  times ;  and  there  may  be  people  who  really 
believe  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  did  not  fully  sympathize  with 
her  husband  in  his  sorrows  and  trials,  but  secretly  favored 
the  rebellion  which,  if  successful,  would  have  expelled 
Lincoln  from  Washington,  if  it  had  spared  his  life.  The, 
relations  of  Lincoln  and  his  wife  were  a  model  for  the 
married  people  of  the  republic  of  which  they  were  then 
the  foremost  pair. 

In  summer,  the  family  lived  in  a  stone  cottage  on  the 
reservation  belonging  to  the  government,  in  the  suburbs 
of  Washington,  known  as  the  Soldiers'  Home.  A  few 
servants  were  then  kept  at  the  White  House,  and,  in  case 
of  extraordinary  business  being  on  hand,  the  President 
tarried  there  all  night.  But  usually  he  was  driven  out  at 
the  close  of  the  day's  work,  and  the  evenings  at  the  Sol- 
diers' Home  cottage  were  often  very  delightful.  The 
distance  from  the  city  kept  away  importunate  office- 
seekers  and  other  petitioners,  and  familiar  friends  would 
call  and  help  to  pass  the  evening  in  social  chat.  One 
or  two  would  sometimes  be  invited  to  spend  the  night, 
and  the  family  circle  was  then  more  like  that  of  a  private 
household  than  at  any  other  time  during  the  presi- 
dential term. 

The  drives  to  and  from  the  Soldiers'  Home  and  the 
White  House  were  often  undertaken  in  the  darkness  of 


442  THE  LIFE    OF  LINCOLN. 

late  hours,  and  friends  of  the  President,  alarmed  by 
rumors  of  attempted  attacks  upon  the  person  of  the 
chief,  insisted  that  he  should  have  a  small  body-guard  of 
cavalry  to  accompany  him  to  and  fro.  The  proposition 
was  most  unpalatable  to  Lincoln,  and  he  resisted  it  as 
long  as  he  could.  When  he  finally  consented,  the  little 
show  of  the  cavalry  escort  was  almost  distressful  to  him, 
and  he  repeatedly  expressed  his  disgust  at  the  "  jingling 
and  the  jangling"  of  the  troop.  A  guard  was  also 
mounted  at  the  main  entrance  of  the  White  House  ;  and 
this  too  annoyed  him  not  a  little,  especially  as  it  was 
needful,  in  the  observance  of  military  discipline,  that 
they  should  salute  him  when  he  passed  in  and  out.  On 
one  occasion  Tad,  having  been  sportively  commissioned  a 
lieutenant  in  the  United  States  army  by  Secretary  Stan- 
ton,  procured  several  muskets  and  drilled  the  men-servants 
of  the  house  in  the  manual  of  arms  without  attracting 
the  attention  of  his  father.  And  one  night,  to  their  con- 
sternation, he  put  them  all  on  duty  and  relieved  the 
regular  sentries,  who,  seeing  the  lad  in  full  uniform,  or 
perhaps  appreciating  the  joke,  gladly  went  to  their  quar- 
ters. Robert  Lincoln,  hearing  of  this  extraordinary 
performance,  indignantly  went  to  his  father  to  remon- 
strate against  the  servants  being  compelled  to  do  special 
duty  when  their  day's  work  was  done.  Tad  insisted  on 
his  rights  as  an  officer.  The  President  laughed  and  de- 
clined to  interfere.  But  when  the  lad  had  lost  his  little 
authority  in  his  boyish  sleep,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States  went  down  and 


THREATS  OF  ASSASSINATION.  443 

personally  discharged  the  sentries  his  son  had  put  on  post. 
For  one  night,  at  least,  the  White  House  was  left  un- 
guarded. 

No  warning  of  suspected  attempts  upon  his  life  seemed 
to  move  Lincoln.  In  deference  to  his  wife's  fears  he  did 
sometimes  carry  a  stout  cane  when,  in  the  darkness  and 
loneliness  of  the  night,  he  took  his  solitary  way  through 
the  tree-studded  grounds  of  the  White  House  to  confer 
with  the  late  watchers  in  the  War  Department,  or  at 
General  Halleck's  head-quarters.  But  he  laughed  grimly 
at  this  slight  weapon  of  defence.  Once  he  said,  some- 
what seriously  : 

"  I  long  ago  made  up  my  mind  that  if  anybody  wants  to 
kill  me,  he  will  do  it.  If  I  wore  a  shirt  of  mail  and  kept  my- 
self surrounded  by  a  body-guard,  it  would  be  all  the  same. 
There  are  a  thousand  ways  of  getting  at  a  man  if  it  is  de- 
sirable that  he  should  be  killed.  Besides,  in  this  case,  it 
seems  to  me,  the  man  who  would  come  after  me  would  be  just 
as  objectionable  to  my  enemies — if  I  have  any." 

At  that  time  Mr.  Hamlin  was  the  Vice-President. 

Lincoln's  relations  with  his  cabinet  were  uniformly 
cordial,  and  with  some  of  its  members  especially  friendly. 
But  it  was  not  the  common  habit  of  any,  except  Mr. 
Seward,  to  visit  the  White  House  in  a  social  fashion. 
Perhaps  they  saw  enough  of  that  historic  structure  in 
their  official  capacity.  Mr.  Seward  lived  not  far  from  the 
House,  and  more  frequently  than  any  other  dropped  in 
of  an  evening  to  spend  an  hour  with  the  President  and 
his  family.  Mr.  Stanton  was  too  busy  for  such  light 


444  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN, 

pleasures.  Lincoln  once  said  of  him  that  he  was  "  terribly 
in  earnest."  As  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  had  both  been  governors  of  States,  the 
President  usually  addressed  them  and  referred  to  them  by 
that  title.  Mr.  Chase,  towards  the  close  of  Lincoln's  first 
term,  became  greatly  dissatisfied  with  sundry  political 
matters,  and,  on  his  part,  at  least,  there  was  a  certain 
coolness  between  him  and  his  chief.  This  feeling  was 
industriously  deepened  by  those  politicians  who  were  op- 
posed to  the  Secretary.  His  ineffective  candidacy  for  the 
presidential  nomination  of  1864  increased  the  strain  of 
his  relations,  and  he  tendered  his  resignation  with  some 
indications  of  anger. 

Lincoln's  choice  for  Chase's  successor  was  Governor 
Tqdd,  of  Ohio,  whom  he  nominated,  but  whose  name  he 
withdrew.  Wm.  Pitt  Fessenden,  of  Maine,  was  finally 
nominated  and  confirmed  ;  he  was  eventually  succeeded 
by  Hugh  McCulloch.  Subsequently,  by  the  death  of 
Roger  B.  Taney,  the  post  of  Chief-Justice  of  the  United 
States  became  vacant,  and  great  pressure  was  brought 
upon  Lincoln  to  appoint  Chase  to  that  high  place.  A 
more  severe  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  him  to 
prevent  him  from  making  the  appointment.  While  the 
matter  was  being  canvassed  eagerly  all  over  the  country, 
an  intimate  friend,  visiting  the  President,  was  asked  the 
question  he  so  often  addressed  to  friendly  and  well-in- 
formed callers  :  "  What  are  people  talking  about  ?  "  He 
replied  that  they  were  speculating  on  the  probability  of 
Chase's  being  appointed  Chief-Justice.  The  smile  on  his 


LINCOLN  AND    CHASE.  445 

face  at  once  disappeared,  and  he  said,  with  gravity  and 
sadness  :  "  My  friends  all  over  the  country  are  trying  to 
put  up  the  bars  between  me  and  Governor  Chase.  I  have 
a  vast  number  of  messages  and  letters  from  men  who 
think  they  are  my  friends,  imploring  and  warning  me  not 
to  appoint  him."  He  paused  a  moment,  and  then  re- 
sumed, pointing  to  a  pile  of  telegrams  and  messages  on 
the  table  :  "  Now,  I  know  meaner  things  about  Governor 
Chase  than  any  of  those  men  can  tell  me  ;  but  I  am  going 
to  nominate  him."  Three  days  after  that  the  appoint- 
ment was  made  public. 

If  Lincoln  ever  cherished  any  personal  resentments 
these  did  not  appear  in  any  of  his  official  acts,  or  in  his 
demeanor  towards  others.  During  the  active  canvass  for 
a  more  "  radical  "  candidate  for  the  Republican  nomina- 
tion of  1864,  a  certain  politician  circulated  among  promi- 
nent men  in  Washington  a  paper  designed  to  fix  in  line 
those  who  were  willing  to  pledge  themselves  to  oppose 
Lincoln's  nomination.  One  of  the  fomenters  of  this  divi- 
sion was  subsequently  presented  for  an  important  ap- 
pointive office,  when  the  short-lived  and  futile  opposition 
to  Lincoln  had  died  out  and  the  nomination  had  been 
made  at  Baltimore.  The  appointment  was  made.  To  a 
friend  who  remonstrated  against  this  weakness,  as  he 
thought  it,  Lincoln  said  : 

"  Well,  I  suppose  Judge  E.,  having  been  disappointed  be- 
fore, did  behave  pretty  ugly  ;  but  that  would  n't  make  him 
any  less  fit  for  this  place  ;  and  I  have  Scriptural  authority  for 
~opointing  him.  You  remember  that  when  the  Lord  was  on 


446  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

Mount  Sinai  getting  out  a  commission  for  Aaron,  that  same 
Aaron  was  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  making  a  false  god  for 
the  people  to  worship.  Yet  Aaron  got  his  commission,  you 
know." 

Alluding  to  the  pressure  for  office,  applied  to  him  so 
steadily  that  he  was  almost  compelled  to  neglect  measures 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  federal  Union,  he  said  :  "  If 
this  keeps  on,  I  shall  be  in  the  position  of  a  man  who  is 
so  busy  renting  rooms  at  one  end  of  his  house  that  he  has 
no  time  to  put  out  the  fire  that  is  consuming  it  at  the 
other  end." 

As  Lincoln  was  no  stickler  for  his  own  dignities  and 
honors,  he  was  not  offended  when  some  of  the  great  civil 
or  military  dignitaries  of  his  time  were  shocked  by  want 
of  due  respect  to  their  official  station.  When  he  was 
leaving  Hooker's  head-quarters,  after  a  visit,  a  short  time 
before  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  the  troops  cheered 
him  right  lustily,  being  drawn  up  in  line  ;  and  a  soldier  in 
the  rank  nearest  the  President  added,  with  a  volunteer 
soldier's  freedom  of  manner,  "  And  send  along  the  green- 
backs." Lincoln  was  greatly  amused  by  the  incident,  and, 
explaining  to  Tad  that  the  men  had  not  been  paid,  the 
lad  said,  with  great  innocence  :  "  Why  don't  Governor 
Chase  print  some  more  greenbacks?  " 

Later  in  the  war,  Secretary  Stanton  visited  the  federal 
lines  at  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  and  was  taken  up 
Broad  River  on  board  a  small  steamer.  Reaching  the 
pickets,  one  of  them  roared  from  the  bank :  "  Who  have 
you  got  aboard  that  tug?"  An  officer  replied,  with 


LINCOLN  AND    THE   OFFICE-SEEKERS.  447 

freezing  dignity  :  "  Major-General  Foster  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  War."  The  picket  shouted  back,  without  a  sign 
of  abashment :  "  We  Ve  got  major-generals  enough  up 
here.  Why  don't  you  bring  up  some  hard-tack  ?  "  This 
was  reported  to  Lincoln,  who  repeated  the  story  with 
great  delight  for  a  long  time  thereafter. 

On  one  occasion,  while  steaming  down  the  Potomac, 
bound  for  Fortress  Monroe,  the  President  called  attention 
to  a  vessel  which  he  called  a  ship.  Being  told  that  it  was 
a  three-masted  schooner,  he  laughed  at  his  mistake  and 
said  :  "  I  shall  certainly  know  a  three-masted  schooner 
from  a  ship  the  next  time  I  ever  see  either.  When  I 
came  into  this  place,  I  was  deplorably  ignorant  of  all 
marine  matters,  being  only  a  prairie  lawyer.  But  I  do 
think  that  I  knew  the  difference  between  the  bow  of  a 
ship  and  her  stern,  and  I  don't  believe  Secretary  Welles 
did." 

It  was,  perhaps,  a  weakness  in  Lincoln  that  he  seemed 
to  think  that  he  should  attend  to  many  of  the  small  details 
of  his  office  that  might  have  been  turned  over  to  the 
members  of  his  cabinet,  to  be  by  them  referred  to  their 
subordinates.  If  he  sent  applicants  to  the  departments, 
it  was  not  until  he  had  made  some  examination  of  the 
case  presented.  Once,  being  puzzled  by  the  illegible 
writing  of  an  application  for  an  office,  he  endorsed  it : 
"  Brigadier-general,  I  guess."  An  officer  in  the  army,  re- 
lated to  a  very  distinguished  general,  reluctant  to  ask  the 
President  for  promotion,  implored  the  aid  of  one  of  the 
President's  friends.  This  gentleman,  presenting  the  case 


44^  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

to  Lincoln,  said  that  the  officer  in  question  had  remarked 
that  his  own  relationship  to  General  -  -  was  a  disad- 
vantage, for  it  kept  him  down.  Lincoln  jumped  from  his 
chair,  and,  shrieking  with  laughter,  said :  "  Keeps  him 
down  ?  Keeps  him  down  ?  That  's  all  that  keeps  him 
up  !  " 

An  old  acquaintance  of  the  President,  whom  he  had 
not  seen  for  many  years,  visited  Washington.  Lincoln 
desired  to  give  him  a  place.  Thus  encouraged,  the  visitor, 
who  was  an  honest  man,  but  wholly  inexperienced  in 
public  affairs  or  in  business,  asked  for  a  high  office.  The 
President  was  aghast,  and  said  :  "  Good  gracious  !  why 
did  n't  he  ask  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  have 
done  with  it?"  Afterward,  he  said:  "Well,  now,  I  never 
thought  M.  had  any  thing  more  than  average  ability,  when 
we  were  young  men  together — and  he  wants  to  be  Super- 
intendent of  the  Mint  !  "  He  paused,  and  added,  with  a 
queer  smile  :  "  But,  then,  I  suppose  he  thought  the  same 
thing  about  me,  and — here  I  am  !  " 

Numberless  anecdotes  are  told  of  Lincoln's  kindness  of 
heart.  As  to  appeals  to  him  in  behalf  of  men  condemned 
to  death  for  violations  of  rules  and  regulations  of  military 
discipline,  or  for  the  discharge  of  minors  or  persons  of 
infirm  mind,  held  to  military  service,  it  may  be  said  in 
general  terms  that  these  were  never  made  in  vain.  He 
was  readily  accessible  to  petitioners  of  every  grade  and 
rank  in  life.  It  was  his  habit  to  receive  first  those  who 
came  by  special  appointment,  or  were  privileged  by  official 
station,  and  then  to  have  the  doors  of  his  cabinet  opened 


FITS   OF  ABSTRACTION. 


449 


and  all  who  were  in  waiting  brought  in,  each  in  his  order, 
to  a  general  audience.  This  was  very  exhausting  to  the 
President,  especially  if  he  had,  as  he  often  had,  a  weight 
of  apprehension  on  his  mind  by  reason  of  some  military 
crisis  or  similar  complication. 

Lincoln  was  accustomed  to  fits  of  abstraction  from 
which  no  ordinary  call  could  rouse  him.  At  such  times 
his  eyes  had  a  far-away  look,  as  if  his  soul  were  wandering 
in  space  and  must  be  deaf  to  the  voice  of  any  caller. 
Once,  at  the  close  of  an  unusually  exhausting  day,  an  in- 
timate friend  found  Lincoln  sunk  in  a  state  of  collapse,  as 
it  were,  with  the  old  far-away  look  in  his  eyes.  Being 
brought  back  by  repeated  calls  of  his  name,  the  President 
laughed  cheerily,  and  explained  that  he  had  had  a  hard  day 
and  his  wits  "  had  gone  wool-gathering." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

END   OF  A   STRANGE   EVENTFUL   HISTORY. 

Symptoms  of  a  Collapse  of  the  Confederacy — Lee  Seeks  a  Parley  with 
Grant — The  Fall  of  Richmond — Flight  of  the  Rebel  Government — 
Lincoln  in  the  Former  Rebel  Capital — He  Goes  to  the  Front — The 
Surrender  of  Lee — Great  Joy  of  the  People — The  National  Capital  in 
a  Frenzy  of  Delight — Lincoln's  Last  Public  Speech — His  Death  and 
Funeral — Conclusion. 

THE  spring  of  1865  opened  with  every  prospect  of  a 
speedy  and  complete  ending  of  the  rebellion. 
Sherman's  march  to  the  sea  had  once  more  rent  the  dying 
confederacy,  even  more  disastrously  than  the  opening  of 
the  Mississippi  had  previously  split  it  into  two  large  frag- 
ments. Everywhere,  on  land  and  sea,  the  arms  of  the 
Union  had  been  crowned  with  victory.  Sherman's  move- 
ments in  the  Carolinas  had  compelled  the  abandonment 
of  Charleston.  The  capture  of  Fort  Fisher  by  General 
Terry  had  virtually  closed  the  last  Atlantic  port  against 
possible  supplies  from  abroad  for  the  rebel  forces.  The 
scattered  remnants  of  their  armies  were  forced  to  concen- 
trate and  rally  around  Lee  for  the  defence  of  the  rebel 
capital,  and  on  the  3d  of  March,  the  day  before  the 
second  inauguration  of  Lincoln,  news  reached  him  that 
Lee  had  at  last  sought  an  interview  with  Grant  for  the 

450 


THE   CONFEDERACY  BEGINS    TO   COLLAPSE.        451 

purpose  of  seeing  if  any  terms  of  peace  could  be  con- 
sidered. True  to  their  settled  purpose,  and  desperate  to 
the  last,  the  rebels  sought  to  make  peace  for  themselves 
and  retain  something  more  than  would  be  exacted  by  a 
conqueror.  Lincoln  ordered  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
send  a  message  to  Grant,  directing  him  to  hold  no  confer- 
ence with  Lee,  except  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  a  ca- 
pitulation of  his  army,  or  on  some  other  purely  military 
matter.  There  must  be  no  discussion  of  any  political 
question.  Such  matters  the  President  would  hold  in  his 
own  hands ;  and,  meantime,  Grant  must  press  to  the  ut- 
most his  military  advantages. 

On  the  2/th  of  March,  a  conference  of  Lincoln,  Grant, 
and  Sherman  was  held  on  board  of  a  steamer  lying  in  the 
James  River,  near  Grant's  head-quarters,  at  which  the 
final  and  decisive  measures  of  the  campaign  were  dis- 
cussed. Lincoln  was  informed  that  one  more  fierce  and 
bloody  battle  would  be  necessary  ;  at  that  prospect  his 
humane  spirit  revolted,  and  he  exclaimed  :  "  Must  blood 
be  shed  ?  Cannot  this  bloody  battle  be  avoided  ?  "  It 
was  avoided,  as  Lincoln  had  hoped  and  prayed,  by  Lee's 
despairing  and  unconditional  surrender.  Sheridan,  who 
had  been  manceuvering  far  to  Grant's  left,  by  dint  of  ten 
days'  rapid  marching  and  almost  incessant  fighting,  had 
cut  off  the  last  avenue  of  Lee's  escape  southward  with  the 
Army  of  Virginia,  the  last  prop  of  the  confederacy,  and 
had  made  its  surrender  merely  a  matter  of  a  few  days,  at 
the  furthest.  Closely  followed  by  Grant,  Sheridan  had 
now  drawn  a  line  completely  around  Lee's  army.  Lee 


452  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

sent  an  imperative  message  to  Richmond  ordering  three 
hundred  thousand  rations  for  his  starving  army.  The 
message  fell  into  Sheridan's  hands,  and  he  sent  it  on  with 
the  intention  of  waylaying  and  capturing  the  supplies. 
This  was  accomplished,  and  the  rebel  forces  were  without 
food.  The  rebel  lines  were  everywhere  drawn  in,  their 
forces  operating  to  the  north  of  the  James  being  now 
joined  to  the  main  army.  Petersburg  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  victorious  Union  troops,  and  on  Sunday  morning, 
April  2d,  the  tolling  of  the  bells  of  Richmond  sounded 
the  knell  of  the  rebellion,  while  the  rolling  of  the  drums 
called  the  citizens  of  the  rebel  capital  to  rally  and 
take  the  places  of  soldiers  withdrawn  forever.  Jefferson 
Davis,  seeing  that  all  was  lost,  fled  in  disguise  southward, 
but  was  subsequently  captured  and  sent  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  a  prisoner. 

On  Monday  morning,  April  3d,  the  federal  troops, 
under  command  of  General  Weitzel,  hoisted  the  flag  of 
the  Union  over  the  building  in  Richmond  that  had  been 
occupied  by  the  rebel  congress,  and  the  political  power  of 
the  confederacy  vanished.  Lincoln  was  at  City  Point, 
near  Grant's  old  head-quarters,  waiting  for  the  final  and 
great  result  of  all  these  military  movements.  Accom- 
panied by  Tad,  he  entered  the  fallen  capital  of  the  con- 
federacy as  soon  as  possible  after  the  news  of  its  down- 
fall reached  him.  The  scene  of  his  entry  has  been  often 
described  as  a  triumphal  one  ;  but  no  representative  of  a 
conquering  force  ever  moved  with  less  ceremony  and 
pomp.  Unattended,  save  by  a  boat's  crew  from  a  gun- 


FALL  OF  RICHMOND.  453 

boat  near  at  hand,  and  leading  his  little  boy  by  the  hand, 
Lincoln  entered  the  late  capital  of  the  rebel  confederacy, 
over  which  the  national  ensign  now  peacefully  waved. 
He  walked  as  one  in  a  dream.  Richmond,  so  long  and  so 
painfully  the  object  of  Union  hopes  and  desires,  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  United  States,  its  congress  and  bureaus 
dispersed,  and  the  members  of  its  exploded  government 
fugitives. 

Multitudes  of  colored  people,  apparently  the  only  per- 
sons left  in  the  city,  flocked  around  the  Liberator.  They 
rent  the  air  with  their  frenzied  shouts.  They  danced, 
they  sang,,  they  prayed  for  blessings  on  the  head  of 
their  deliverer ;  they  wept,  kneeling  at  his  feet.  In  that 
supreme  moment  Lincoln  was  speechless.  He  wore  no 
look  of  triumph  over  a  fallen  foe,  evidences  of  whose 
poverty  and  great  trial  were  thick  about  him.  The  tears 
streamed  down  his  cheeks,  furrowed  with  many  cares,  and, 
simply  bowing  his  thanks,  or  raising  his  hat  to  the  jubilant 
and  almost  hysterical  crowds  of  freed  persons,  he  passed 
on  to  the  interior  of  the  city.  The  statesman  reared  by 
God's  wonderful  providence  and  disciplined  in  the  rough 
school  of  adversity,  with  the  memories  of  his  hard 
struggle  in  life  still  upon  him,  was  in  the  last  stronghold 
of  the  broken  slave  power.  His  life-work  was  done. 

Meanwhile,  Grant  and  Sheridan  were  drawing  their 
lines  more  closely  about  the  rebel  army  under  Lee,  who, 
like  a  hunted  fox,  vainly  turned  this  way  and  that  to 
escape  the  net  in  which  he  was  enveloped.  Grant  tarried 
at  Petersburg  long  enough  to  meet  the  President,  who 


454  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

pressed  on  to  see  him  for  a  moment.  The  two  men  met. 
Lincoln  seized  Grant  by  the  hands,  and  poured  forth  his 
thanks  and  congratulations  with  a  glowing  radiance  on 
his  countenance.  Lincoln  had  hardly  expected  that  the 
end  would  have  come  so  suddenly,  and  that  the  "  one 
more  bloody  battle  "  could  have  been  thus  mercifully 
averted.  He  had  thought  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
bring  up  Sherman's  army,  now  operating  to  the  south- 
ward, before  the  final  surrender  of  Lee's  army  could  be 
made  certain  and  Richmond  captured.  But  the  collapse 
of  the  confederacy  had  come  without  much  bloodshed  at 
the  last. 

Leaving  the  President,  who  returned  to  Washington, 
Grant  hurried  on  westward,  following  the  leading  columns 
of  infantry,  and  on  the  /th  of  April,  1865,  from  the  little 
village  of  Farmville,  Virginia,  he  opened  with  General 
Lee  the  correspondence  that  resulted  in  the  surrender  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  April  gth,  in  the  village 
of  Appomattox  Court-House,  Virginia.  The  two  great 
and  famous  generals  met  face  to  face.  There  were  no 
impressive  doings  at  the  surrender.  The  terms  were  un- 
conditional. The  number  of  men  surrendered  was  over 
28,000 ;  and  as  they  were  in  sore  need  of  food,  General 
Grant  ordered  that  they  be  supplied  at  once  with  rations 
from  the  Union  army  commissariat.  It  was  now  the 
opening  of  the  agricultural  year,  and  many  of  the  rebel 
soldiers  were  in  haste  to  go  home  and  prepare  the  ground 
for  seeding,  so  soon  did  the  pursuits  of  peace  follow  in 
the  trail  of  war.  Grant  permitted  them  to  take  with  them 


GkEAT  JOY  OF   THE  PEOPLE.  455 

their  own  horses  to  work  in  the  long-neglected  fields.  The 
rebellion  was  over. 

The  North  was  delirious  with  joy.  First  came  the  news 
of  the  capture  of  Petersburg,  announced  in  a  despatch 
from  President  Lincoln  to  the  War  Department,  and 
received  in  Washington  about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  the  3d  of  April.  Three  quarters  of  an  hour  later,  a 
despatch  from  General  Weitzel  told  the  glad  tidings  of 
the  fall  of  Richmond.  Although  Lee  had  not  been  over- 
taken, these  despatches  were  sufficient  to  set  the  people 
wild.  The  end  of  the  rebellion  was  at  hand.  Davis  a 
fugitive,  men  recognized  Lee  as  the  real  head  of  the  re- 
bellion, but  did  not  wait  to  hear  of  his  surrender.  The 
national  capital  was  in  a  tumult  of  excitement  and  tri- 
umph. Thence  the  wave  spread  all  over  the  country;  the 
news  penetrated  remote  villages  and  hamlets  in  an  in- 
credibly short  space  of  time.  Flags  were  spread  to  the 
breeze.  Guns  were  fired,  and  bands,  processions,  and 
every  outward  form  of  jubilation  were  used  to  express 
the  joy  of  the  people.  The  prevailing  feeling  was  not  one 
of  victory  over  a  fallen  foe,  but  of  relief  that  the  war  was 
over.  No  more  fighting ;  no  more  dying  on  fields  of 
battle  ;  no  more  enlistments  and  drafts  ;  no  more  anxious 
measures  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union.  The  war 
was  over.  This  was  the  burden  of  the  song  that  flowed 
from  the  hearts  of  millions  of  men  and  women,  relieved  at 
last  from  an  intolerable  trial  of  patience. 

In  Washington,  the  rejoicings  took  the  form  of  a 
national  celebration ;  the  public  departments  were  closed 


456  T//K   LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

as  for  a  holiday.  Flags  flew  from  all  the  government 
buildings,  and  the  War  Department  ordered  a  salute  of 
eight  hundred  guns,  five  hundre'd  for  Richmond  and  three 
hundred  for  Petersburg.  Bands  paraded  the  streets,  and 
the  members  of  the  cabinet,  in  the  absence  of  the  Presi- 
dent, were  called  out  to  address  the  excited  crowds.  Con- 
gress had  adjourned,  but  the  city  was  full  of  Congressmen  ; 
and  multitudes  of  men,  bent  on  seeing  the  end  of  the 
rebellion,  as  it  was  celebrated  in  the  capital  of  the  nation, 
had  gone  thither.  The  cheering  and  the  congratulations 
lasted  far  into  the  night.  The  city  was  given  up  to  a 
mighty  impromptu  festivity.  On  the  following  day,  these 
demonstrations  were  renewed,  and  on  the  night  of  the  4th 
of  April,  the  city  was  illuminated.  Public  and  private 
buildings  were  a  blaze  of  light,  and  bonfires,  fireworks,  and 
every  possible  contrivance  for  the  making  of  light  and 
noise  were  resorted  to  by  the  happy  people. 

Late  in  the  night  of  April  8th,  Palm  Sunday,  the  news 
of  the  surrender  of  Lee  reached  Washington  and  was 
communicated  to  Lincoln,  who  had  returned  and  was 
waiting  for  it.  Early  on  the  following  morning,  Wash- 
ington was  startled  from  its  slumbers  by  the  boom  of 
cannon  announcing  the  great  news.  Once  more  the  cap- 
ital went  wild  with  joy.  The  city  took  a  general  holiday. 
Once  more  the  air  resounded  with  the  boom  of  cannon 
and  the  blare  of  martial  music.  Government  clerks 
assembled  in  the  great  rotunda  of  the  Treasury  building 
and  sang,  >l  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 
A  great  throng  of  excited  citizens,  dragging  howitzers, 


REJOICINGS  AT  THE  NATIONAL    CAPITAL,        457 

poured  into  the  grounds  of  the  White  House,  rending  the 
air  with  the  explosion  of  gunpowder  and  lusty  cheering. 
Lincoln,  radiant  with  happiness,  appeared  at  the  historic 
window  under  the  great  porch,  and  bowed  and  smiled  his 
thanks.  The  crowd  would  not  depart  without  a  speech, 
for  which  they  loudly  called.  At  sight  of  the  well-beloved 
face,  the  throng  broke  into  promiscuous  cries,  blessing  the 
name  of  Lincoln,  shouting  all  manner  of  joyous  recog- 
nition of  his  services,  and  uttering  wild  and  whirling 
words  of  love.  Men  threw  up  their  hats,  embraced  each 
other,  and  stretched  forth  their  hands  in  passionate  ador- 
ation of  the  savior  and  liberator  of  his  country. 

When  order  was  restored  and,  at  a  motion  from  Lin- 
coln's hand,  a  breathless  silence  fell  on  the  crowd,  he 
brushed  the  tears  from  his  face,  and  briefly  congratulated 
the  people  on  the  grand  result  that  had  called  out  such 
unrestrained  enthusiasm.  "  But,"  he  said,  "  I  understand 
there  is  to  be  a  more  elaborate  celebration  of  this  momen- 
tous event  later  on,  and  I  shall  have  nothing  to  say  then 
if  it  is  all  dribbled  out  of  me  now."  This  homely  saying 
pleased  the  people,  who  laughed  good-humoredly  and 
listened  to  the  few  words  with  which  Lincoln  concluded, 
calling  for  the  "  captured  tune  of  Dixie,"  which,  he  said, 
was  ours  by  the  laws  of  war.  Then  the  President,  wav- 
ing his  hand,  proposed  three  cheers  for  General  Grant  and 
the  officers  and  men  under  him  ;  then  three  more  for  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  navy.  These  were  given  with  a 
will,  and  the  crowd  reluctantly  dispersed. 

On  the  evening  of  the  nth  of  April,  Washington  was 


458  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

illuminated  by  the  government,  and  again  every  possible 
token  of  national  rejoicing  was  put  into  requisition.  This 
was  the  formal  celebration  that  Lincoln  had  alluded  to 
and  for  which  he  was  prepared.  Coming  into  the  draw- 
ing-room that  night,  after  a  little  company  of  friends  of 
the  family  had  dined  together,  he  laid  a  roll  of  manuscript 
on  a  table,  and,  noticing  a  look  of  surprise  on  the  counte- 
nance of  one  of  these,  he  said : 

"  I  know  what  you  are  thinking  about.  You  think  it  mighty 
queer  that  an  old  stump-speaker  like  myself  should  not  be  able 
to  address  a  crowd  like  this  outside  without  a  written  speech. 
But  you  must  remember  I  am,  in  a  certain  way,  talking  to  the 
country,  and  I  have  to  be  mighty  careful.  Now,  the  last  time 
I  made  an  off-hand  speech,  in  answer  to  a  serenade,  I  used  the 
phrase,  as  applied  to  the  rebels,  '  turned  tail  and  ran.'  Some 
very  nice  Boston  folks,  I  am  grieved  to  hear,  were  very  much 
outraged  by  that  phrase,  which  they  thought  improper.  So  I 
resolved  to  make  no  more  impromptu  speeches  if  I  could  help 
it." 

Subsequently,  he  said  that  it  was  Senator  Sumner  who 
had  given  voice  to  the  complaint  of  "  the  nice  Boston 
folks,"  and  with  considerable  emphasis. 

It  was  a  notable,  even  an  historic  occasion.  At  last,  the 
war  was  over.  Outside  of  the  house  was  a  vast  crowd, 
cheering  and  shouting  with  a  roar  like  that  of  the  sea.  A 
small  battery  from  the  navy  yard  occasionally  rent  the 
air  with  a  salute,  and  the  clamor  of  brass  bands  and  the 
hissing  of  fireworks  added  to  the  confusion  and  racket  in 
front  of  the  mansion.  Lincoln  and  a  few  friends  lingered 
until  it  was  time  for  him  to  begin  his  speech.  As  the 


LINCOLN  ADDRESSES  THE  PEOPLE.  459 

little  party  mounted  the  stairs  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
house,  there  was  a  tremendous  din  outside,  as  if  roars  of 
laughter  were  mingling  with  the  music  and  cheers.  Inside 
of  the  house,  at  one  of  the  front  windows  on  the  right  of 
the  staircase,  was  old  Edward,  the  conservative  and  digni- 
fied butler  of  the  White  House,  struggling  with  Tad  and 
trying  to  drag  him  back  from  the  window,  from  which  he 
was  waving  a  confederate  flag,  captured  in  some  fight 
and  given  to  the  boy.  The  crowd  recognized  Tad,  who 
frantically  waved  the  flag  as  he  fought  with  Edward, 
while  the  people  roared  with  delight. 

Edward  conquered,  and  followed  by  a  parting  cheer 
from  the  throng  below,  Tad  rushed  to  his  father  with  his 
complaints.  But  the  President,  just  then  approaching  the 
centre  window  overlooking  the  portico,  stood  with  a 
beaming  face  before  the  vast  assembly  beneath,  and  the 
mighty  cheer  that  arose  drowned  all  other  sounds.  The 
speech  began  with  the  words,  "  We  meet  this  evening,  not 
in  sorrow,  but  in  gladness  of  heart." 

As  Lincoln  spoke,  the  multitude  below  was  as  silent  as 
if  the  great  court -yard  were  deserted.  Then  as  his  speech 
was  written  on  loose  sheets,  and  the  candles  placed  for 
him  were  too  low,  he  took  a  light  in  his  hand  and  went 
on  with  his  reading.  Soon  coming  to  the  end  of  a  page, 
he  found  some  difficulty  in  handling  the  manuscript  and 
holding  the  candlestick.  A  friend  who  stood  behind  the 
drapery  of  the  window  reached  out  and  took  the  candle, 
and  held  it  until  the  end  of  the  speech,  and  the  President 
let  the  loose  pages  fall  on  the  floor  one  by  one,  Tad 


460  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

picking  them  up  as  they  fell  and  impatiently  calling  for 
more  as  they  fluttered  from  his  father's  hand. 

The  speech,  it  must  be  said,  was  not  what  the  people 
had  expected.  It  was  not  a  shout  of  jubilation  and  tri- 
umph. It  was  a  political  address.  The  unionists  of 
Louisiana  had  formed  a  State  Legislature,  abolished  slav- 
ery, and  enacted  a  law  giving  the  blacks  the  right  to  vote. 
Many  conservative  persons  thought  this  was  too  rapid  a 
movement,  and  that  there  was  no  legal  right  residing  in 
the  so-called  Legislature  to  pass  such  measures.  Much  of 
Lincoln's  speech  on  this  occasion,  after  a  few  sentences 
referring  to  the  great  topic  of  the  day,  was  devoted  to  a 
discussion  of  the  Louisiana  question,  as  it  was  already 
called.  One  of  his  illustrations  was  this :  "  Concede  that 
the  new  government  of  Louisiana  is  only  what  it  should 
be,  as  the  egg  is  to  the  fowl,  we  shall  sooner  have  the 
fowl  by  hatching  it  than  by  smashing  it."  This  figure  of 
speech  was  disliked  by  those  who  did  not  agree  with 
Lincoln. 

Lincoln  had  made  his  last  speech.  Great  events  hur- 
ried after  each  other  from  that  night  to  the  morning  of 
the  I4th  of  April,  1865.  These  marked  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  last  vestiges  of  the  fallen  and  broken  confed- 
eracy. At  noon  on  the  I4th  was  held  the  last  meeting  of 
the  cabinet,  at  which  General  Grant  was  present.  While 
waiting  for  the  latest  arrival  of  the  ministers,  Lincoln  was 
observed  to  wear  a  grave  look.  He  explained  that  he 
had  had  a  strange  dream, — a  remarkable  presentiment. 
What  it  was  he  did  not  say,  but  abruptly  proceeded  to 


ASSASSINATION  OF  LINCOLN.  461 

business.  After  the  cabinet  meeting,  he  drove  out  for  an 
hour  with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  talking  cheerfully  about  their 
plans  for  the  future  and  what  would  be  possible  and  best 
for  them  and  the  boys  when  they  should  finally  leave  the 
White  House,  at  the  end  of  his  second  term.  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln desired  to  visit  Europe,  and  Lincoln  was  not  wholly 
certain  whether  it  would  be  best  to  fix  his  residence  finally 
in  his  old  home  in  Springfield,  or  in  California,  where  he 
thought  the  boys  might  have  a  better  start  in  life  than 
in  any  of  the  older  portions  of  the  republic. 

That  night,  as  had  been  arranged,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln, accompanied  by  General  Grant  and  a  few  personal 
friends,  were  to  visit  the  theatre.  The  fact  had  been  an- 
nounced in  the  newspapers,  and  an  unusually  large  audi- 
ence collected.  General  Grant  was  detained  by  business, 
and  the  President,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Miss  Clara  Harris  (a 
daughter  of  Senator  Ira  Harris,  of  New  York),  and  Major 
Rathbone,  of  the  army,  occupied  a  box  near  the  stage,  in 
the  upper  tier  of  boxes.  John  Wilkes  Booth,  an  actor, 
had  conspired  with  certain  others  to  take  the  President's 
life  on  the  first  convenient  occasion.  This  man,  so  far  as 
known,  had  no  personal  grievance  of  which  to  complain. 
He  had  been  possessed  by  an  insane  notion  that  Lincoln 
was  an  inhuman  tyrant  whose  death  was  desirable.  He 
and  his  companions  had  made  their  plans  with  great  care 
and  forethought.  On  this  night  he  had  a  fleet  horse 
ready  in  the  rear  of  the  theatre  to  bear  him  away  when 
the  deed  should  be  done. 

At   half-past  ten   o'clock  in  the  evening,  while  those 


462  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

present  were  absorbed  in  what  was  happening  on  the 
stage,  the  assassin,  who  had  passed  unnoticed  into  the 
rear  of  the  box  occupied  by  the  President  and  his  friends, 
held  a  pistol  within  a  few  inches  of  the  head  of  Lincoln, 
near  the  base  of  the  brain,  as  he  crept  behind  his  illustri- 
ous victim,  and  fired.  The  ball  entered  the  brain,  and 
Lincoln  fell  forward  insensible.  The  shot  startled  the 
great  audience,  but  the  position  of  the  box  did  not  allow 
many  to  see  what  had  happened.  Major  Rathbone 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  attempted  to  seize  the  assassin, 
who,  drawing  a  long  knife,  stabbed  Rathbone  in  the  arm, 
and  profiting  by  the  Major's  repulse,  jumped  from  the 
box  to  the  stage.  Striding  across  the  stage,  he  bran- 
dished the  knife,  crying:  "Sic  semper  tyrannis!" — the 
motto  of  the  State  of  Virginia — "  Ever  so  to  tyrants." 
Then  adding,  "  The  South  is  avenged  !  "  he  vanished  and 
was  seen  no  more. 

In  the  midst  of  confusion  and  lamentation  inde- 
scribable, the  insensible  form  of  Lincoln  was  carried 
from  the  theatre  to  a  private  residence  across  the  street, 
and  his  family  were  sent  for,  and  members  of  the  govern- 
ment made  haste  to  assemble.  Robert  Lincoln,  his 
mother,  the  secretaries  of  the  President,  members  of  the 
cabinet,  and  a  few  of  the  personal  friends  of  the  family 
watched  by  the  bed  of  the  dying  President  through  the 
night.  No  human  skill  could  save  that  precious  life,  and 
all  that  science  could  do  was  merely  to  support  the  vigor- 
ous and  well-trained  natural  powers  as  they  struggled 
involuntarily  with  approaching  death.  The  President 


CAPTURE   OF  THE  ASSASSINS.  463 

uttered  no  word,  and  gave  no  sign  of  being  conscious  of 
what  had  taken  place,  or  of  the  presence  of  those  about 
him.  The  tremulous  whispers  of  medical  attendants,  the 
suppressed  sobs  of  strong  men,  and  the  labored  breathing 
of  the  dying  man  were  the  only  sounds  that  broke  the  still- 
ness of  the  chamber.  At  twenty-two  minutes  past  seven 
o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  April  fifteenth,  the  mighty 
heart  had  ceased  to  beat.  Lincoln  was  dead. 

While  this  tragedy  was  taking  place  in  the  theatre, 
other  members  of  the  gang  had  attempted  to  take  the 
lives  of  other  members  of  the  government.  Plans  to 
assassinate  Vice-President  Johnson  and  Secretary  Stan- 
ton,  of  the  War  Department,  were  turned  aside  by  what 
seemed  to  be  accidental  circumstances.  Secretary  Seward 
was  confined  to  his  bed  by  an  accident,  and  one  assassin 
contrived  to  elude  the  keeper  of  the  house-door  and  pene- 
trate to  the  Secretary's  sick-room,  where  he  attacked  the 
invalid  and  inflicted  several  frightful  dagger-wounds  upon 
his  face  and  head.  Mr.  Seward's  son  and  others  of  the 
family  were  able  to  thwart  the  ruffian's  purpose  and  save 
the  life  of  the  venerable  Secretary.  The  would-be  assas- 
sin escaped  for  a  time,  but  was  afterwards  caught.  Sev- 
eral of  his  accomplices  were  arrested  and,  after  trial  and 
conviction,  were  put  to  death,  Mr.  Seward's  assailant 
among  the  number.  The  man  who  assassinated  Lincoln 
was  hunted  down  finally,  caged  in  a  barn  in  Maryland, 
and  shot  like  a  dog. 

As  the  sun  rose  red  over  Washington,  on  the  morning 
of  April  fifteenth,  the  body  of  Lincoln  was  carried  to  the 


464  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

White  House,  followed  by  a  little  procession  of  weeping 
but  stern-faced  men.  Grief  and  a  vague  desire  for  revenge 
for  this  cruel  and  needless  crime  struggled  for  the  mas- 
tery. This  was  the  feeling  all  over  the  country,  when  the 
heavy  tidings  of  the  foul  and  most  unnatural  murder  went 
forth  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Flags 
that  had  been  flying  in  triumph  were  lowered  to  half- 
mast  in  sorrow.  It  is  no  stretch  of  imagination  to  say 
that  a  great  wave  of  lamentation,  spontaneous  and  ex- 
ceeding bitter,  swept  over  the  republic.  Bells  were 
tolled  and  minute-guns  were  fired.  For  days  all  ordinary 
business,  except  that  of  the  most  imperative  importance, 
was  practically  suspended,  and  the  nation  seemed  aban- 
doned to  its  mighty  grief. 

Andrew  Johnson,  the  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  his  office  now  succeeded  to  the 
presidency,  and,  shortly  after  the  body  of  Lincoln  had 
been  borne  to  the  White  House,  he  was  sworn  into 
office. 

On  Wednesday,  April  iQth,  the  funeral  of  the  dead 
president  took  place  at  the  White  House,  in  the  midst  of 
aa  assemblage  of  the  chief  men  of  the  nation.  From 
the  mansion  in  which  the  beloved  Lincoln  had  suffered 
and  toiled  so  much  for  the  good  of  the  people,  his 
form  was  carried  to  the  Capitol  of  the  nation,  in  the 
rotunda  of  which  it  lay  in  state  for  one  day,  guarded  by 
a  company  of  high  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  and  a 
detachment  of  soldiers.  Thousands  of  men,  women,  and 
children  passed  through  the  building  to  take  their  last 


THE  FUNERAL.  46$ 

look  of  the  face  of  Lincoln,  white  in  his  coffin.  It  was  a 
memorable  spectacle,  and  sighs  and  sobs  attested  the 
genuine  grief  of  those  who  crowded  in  weeping  throngs 
to  see  the  Emancipator  for  the  last  time. 

Lincoln  was  buried  in  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  near 
Springfield,  Illinois.  The  funeral  train  left  Washington 
on  the  2 1st  of  April,  and  traversed  nearly  the  same 
route  that  had  been  passed  over  by  the  train  that  bore 
him,  President-elect,  from  Springfield  to  Washington 
five  years  before.  It  was  a  funeral  unique,  wonderful. 
Nearly  two  thousand  miles  were  traversed  ;  the  people 
lined  the  entire  distance,  almost  without  an  interval,  stand- 
ing with  uncovered  heads,  mute  with  grief,  as  the  sombre 
cortege  swept  by.  Even  night  and  falling  showers  did 
not  keep  them  away  from  the  line  of  the  sad  procession. 
Watch-fires  blazed  along  the  route  in  the  darkness,  and 
by  day  every  device  that  could  lend  picturesqueness  to 
the  mournful  scene  and  express  the  woe  of  the  people 
was  employed.  In  some  of  the  larger  cities  the  coffin  of 
the  illustrious  dead  was  lifted  from  the  funeral  train  and 
carried  through,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  attended  by 
mighty  processions  of  citizens,  forming  a  funeral  pageant 
of  proportions  so  magnificent  and  imposing  that  the 
world  has  never  since  seen  the  like.  Thus,  honored  in 
his  funeral,  guarded  to  his  grave  by  famed  and  battle- 
scarred  generals  of  the  army,  Lincoln's  body  was  laid 
to  rest  at  last  near  his  old  home.  Friends,  neighbors, 
men  who  had  known  and  loved  homely  and  kindly 
honest  Abe  Lincoln,  assembled  to  pay  their  final  tribute 


466  THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 

of  affection  and  honor  at  his  burying-place.  And  with 
the  remains  of  his  darling  little  son  Willie  by  his  side, 
he  was  left  whose  life  had  begun  in  the  poverty  and 
obscurity  of  an  American  wilderness,  and  ended  in  the 
full  blaze  of  the  white  light  that  beats  upon  a  place 
conspicuous  in  the  world's  wide  fame.  In  due  time,  a 
noble  monument,  reared  by  the  loving  hands  of  the 
people  to  whom  he  had  dedicated  his  life,  rose  to  mark 
the  spot. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  whole  civilized  world  were  arrested 
in  its  daily  concerns  of  life  by  this  tragic  calamity. 
From  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  from  kings  and 
queens,  emperors,  senates,  and  legislative  assemblies, 
from  private  individuals,  high  and  low,  and  from  con- 
vocations of  the  plain  people  of  many  lands,  came 
messages  of  sympathy,  condolence,  respect,  and  sincere 
sorrow.  It  was  a  tribute,  unprecedented  and  spon- 
taneous, to  the  ended  life  and  completed  services  of 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  author  of  this  brief  biography  has  imperfectly 
carried  out  his  purpose  if  he  has  failed  to  show  how  the 
character  of  Lincoln  was  developed  and  shaped  by  his 
early  training  ;  how  he  was  raised  up  and  fitted,  in  the 
obscure  seclusion  of  humble  life,  by  the  providence  of 
God,  for  a  special  and  peculiar  service  ;  how  he  became 
the  type,  flower,  and  representative  of  all  that  is  worthily 
American  ;  how  in  him  the  commonest  of  human  traits 
were  blended  with  an  all-embracing  charity  and  the  high- 


STATUE   OF    LINCOLN,    HY    ST.    GAUDENS.       UNVEILED    IN    CHICAGO, 

OCT.    22,    1887. 

467 


468 


THE  LIFE   OF  LINCOLN. 


est  human  wisdom;  and  how,  with  single-hearted  devotion 
to  the  right,  he  lived  unselfishly,  void  of  selfish  personal 
ambition,  and,  dying  tragically,  left  a  name  to  be  remem- 
bered with  love  and  honor  as  one  of  the  best  and  greatest 
of  mankind. 


INDEX. 


Altoona,  conference  of  governors  at, 
358. 

American  party,  169 

Anderson,  Robert,  in  the  Black  Hawk 
war,  67  ;  in  Fort  Sumter,  226  ; 
surrender  of,  274 

Andrew,  John  A.,  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, 279 

Antietam,  battle  of,  325 

Appomattox,  surrender  at,  454 

Arithmetical  examples  of  Lincoln,  40 

Arkansas,  reply  to  call  for  troops, 
279  ;  Halleck  in,  340 

Arming  the  freedmen,  321 

Armstrong,  Jack,  encounter  with  Lin- 
coln, 58  ;  Lincoln  defends  his  son 
on  trial  for  murder,  139 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  McClellan 
commander  of,  338  ;  proposed  re- 
organization of,  352  ;  ordered  to 
support  Pope,  359  ;  Lincoln  visits, 
373  ;  at  Gettysburg,  388  ;  Sabbath- 
breaking,  398  ;  Grant's  head-quar- 
ters with,  406  ;  Meade  in  command 
of,  407  ;  corps  commanders  of, 
407  ;  battles  of  the  Wilderness, 
407  ;  at  Appomattox,  454 

Ashmun,  George,  chairman  of  Repub- 
lican Convention  of  1860,  211 

Assassination,  threats  against  Lincoln 
before  inauguration,  233 

Atchison,  David,  in  the  Kansas 
troubles,  158 

Autobiography,  Lincoln's,  178-180 

Awakening  on  slavery  question,  145 

B 

Baker,  E.  D.,  law  partner  with  Lin- 
coln, 86  ;  Lincoln  rescues  from 


mob,  98  ;  elected  to  Congress,  109; 
friendship  with  Lincoln,  433 

Baltimore,  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regi- 
ment fired  on,  282 

Banks,  N.  P.,  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, 280  ;  under  Pope,  358 

Barn-burners,  120 

Bateman,  Newton,  Lincoln's  inter- 
view with,  222 

Beauregard,  P.  G.  T.,  in  command  at 
Charleston,  267  ;  demands  surren- 
der of  Fort  Sumter,  273  ;  at  Bull 
Run,  298 

Bell  and  Everett  nominated,  205 

Berry,  partner  of  Lincoln,  75 

Big  Bethel,  Federal  defeat  at,  297 

Bissell,  W.  H.,  Representative  in 
Congress  from  Illinois,  94 

Black  Hawk  war,  65-70 

Black,  J.  S.,  Attorney-General  in 
Buchanan's  Cabinet,  226 

Blair,  F.  P.,  sr.(  house  destroyed  by 
rebels,  411  ;  visits  Richmond,  423 

Blockade  of  Southern  ports  declared, 
286 

Bolin  Greene,  death  of,  80 

Bonds,  six  per  cent.,  ordered,  377 

Boone,  Daniel,  Kentucky  pioneer,  8 

Boonville,  Lincoln  attends  court  at,  37 

Booth,  J.  W.,  461 

Breckenridge,  Lincoln  meets  at  Boon- 
ville, 38  ;  John  C.  nominated  for 
President,  205 

Broderick,  D.  C.,  his  death  in  Cali- 
fornia, 219 

Brown,  John,  in  Kansas,  159 

Browning,  O.  H.,  lawyer  in  Spring- 
field, 111.,  93 

Buchanan,  Jas.,  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent, 168  ;  elected,  172  ;  at  Lin- 
coln's inauguration,  259 


469 


INDEX. 


Buell,  D.  C.,  in  Kentucky,  368 

Bull  Run,  first  battle  of,  296  ;  second 

battle  of,  360 

Burns'  poems,  Lincoln  reads,  34 
Burnside,  A.  E.,  at  Roanoke  Island, 

340  ;  succeeds  McClellan,  366  ;  at 
the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  367  ; 
arrests  Vallandigham,  379,  380  ;  in 
Knoxville,   399 

Butler,  B.  F.,  at  Annapolis,  285  ; 
Fortress  Monroe,  295  ;  Ship  Island, 

341  ;  City  Point,  410 
Butterfield,    Daniel,    despatch    from 

Army  of  Potomac,  375 

C 

Cabinet,  Lincoln's,  260 

Call  for  troops,  277  ;  call  and  draft 
ordered,  419 

Camp,  half-faced,  12 

Cartwright,  Peter,  candidate  for  Con- 
gress, 113 

Cass,  Lewis,  in  Black  Hawk  war,  70  ; 
Lincoln's  sarcasm  concerning,  118  ; 
nominated  for  President,  122  ;  Sec- 
retary of  State,  226 

Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  374 

Charleston,  111.,  Lincoln's  speech  in, 
186 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  Democratic  Con- 
vention in  1860,  204  ;  harbor  forti- 
fications, 226 

Chase,  S.  P.,  favored  by  radical  Re- 
publicans, 402  ;  resigns  Treasury 
portfolio,  /| /|t  ;  appointed  Chief- 
Justice,  444 

Chicago  Convention,  1860,  205  ;  Lin- 
coln nominated  by,  209  ;  Hamlin 
nominated  by,  210 

Cincinnati   menaced   by  rebel  raids, 

369 

Clary's  Grove  boys,  58 

Clay,  Henry,  Lincoln  reads  life  of, 
26  ;  Lincoln's  eulogy  of,  36  ;  de- 
feated for  President,  in  ;  visited 
by  Lincoln,  112 

Cobb,  Howell,  Secretary  of  Treasury 
in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  225 

Cochrane,  John,  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  415 

Condition  of  people  of  the  United 
States  in  1789,  I 


Confederacy,  rebel,  organized,  229 

Confiscation  of  rebel  property  author- 
ized by  Congress,  376 

Conscription,  ordered,  376  ;  riots  in 
New  York,  391 

"  Contraband,"  first  use  of  the  word, 
296 

Cooper  Institute,  Lincoln's  speech  in, 
198 

Cooper's  novels  read  by  young  Lin- 
coln, 32 

Crocodile,  Douglas'  figure  of  speech 
of,  193 

Curtin,  A.  G.,  Governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, 280 


I) 


Davis,  David,  lawyer  in  Springfield, 
111.,  94 

Davis,  Jefferson,  elected  Provisional 
President  of  Confederacy,  229  ;  his 
threats  against  the  North,  230  ; 
plea  for  State  sovereignty,  293, 
303  ;  represented  at  Niagara  Falls 
Conference,  and  visit  from  F.  P. 
Blair,  sr.,  423  et  seq. 

Debt,  public,  in  1783,  2 

Decatur  County,  111.,  Lincoln  settles 
in,  50 

Deep  snow,  winter  of,  in  Illinois,  51 

Democratic  Convention,  of  1860,  204  ; 
of  1864,  414  ;  Breckenridge  nomi- 
nated by,  205  ;  McClellan  nomi- 
nated by,  414 

Dennison,  Governor  of  Ohio,  280 

Dix,  John  A.,  succeeds  Howell  Cobb 
as  Secretary  of  Treasury,  227 

"  Dixie,"  a  national  air,  248  ;  cap- 
tured, 408 

Dixon,  John,  guide  in  Black  Hawk 
war,  68 

Donelson,  Fort,  capture  of,  339 

Dorsey,  Hazel,  Lincoln's  schoolmas- 
ter, 35 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  a  lawyer  in 
Springfield,  111.,  94;  denounced  for 
pro-slavery  sentiments,  146  ;  speech 
in  Springfield,  111.,  149;  with  Lin- 
coln in  Peoria,  152  ;  opens  the  joint 
debate  with  Lincoln,  176  ;  his  early 
history,  177  ;  elected  Senator,  189; 
nominated  for  the  presidency,  205  ; 


INDEX. 


471 


on  the  stump  in  1860,  213  ;  at  Lin- 
coln's inauguration,  258  ;  death  of, 
291 

Draft,  ordered,  376  ;  riots  in  New 
York,  391 

E 

Early,  rebel  general,  threatens  Wash- 
ington, 410 

Electoral  vote,  1856,  172  ;  1860,  214; 
1864,  420 

Elkin,  Parson,  border  preacher,  8  ; 
funeral  sermon  at  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
burial,  22 

Ellsworth,  Elmer,  death  of,  289 

Emancipation,  proclamations  of  Fre- 
mont and  Hunter,  318  ;  Lincoln's 
message  concerning  same,  318  ; 
Lincoln  considers  his  proclamation, 
325  |  it  is  issued,  325  ;  full  text  of, 
329-334 

Ewell.  rebel  general,  invades  Pennsyl- 
vania, 384 


Farragut,  Admiral,  operations  in 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  341  ;  at  New  Or- 
leans, 314 

Fillmore  and  Donelson  nominated, 
169 

Fisher,  Fort,  capture  of,  450 

Floyd  J.  B.,  Secretary  of  War  in 
Buchanan's  Cabinet,  225  ;  at  Fort 
Donelson,  339 

Forquer,  Geo.,  Lincoln's  encounter 
with,  84 

Fort  Beargrass,  3 

Free  Soilers,  organize,  121  ;  Lincoln 
leader  of,  164 

Fremont,  John  C.,  nominated  for 
President,  1856,  168  ;  anti-slavery 
views,  311  ;  emancipation  procla- 
mation, 312  ;  popularity,  314  ;  nom- 
inated for  President,  1864,  415 


Garfield,  Jas.  A.,  defeats  rebel  gen- 
eral, H.  Marshall,  339  ;  report  of 
Lincoln's  capture  of  Norfolk,  353 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  383  ;  dedication 
of  cemetery  at.  395 

Grant,  U.    S.,   his  rising,  339;  "un- 


conditional  surrender,"  339  ;    cap- 
ture of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson, 

339  ;   at    Vicksburg,    381  ;    Lieut. - 
General,  403  ;  at  the  Rapidan,  406; 
"  fight  it  out  on   this   line,"  407  ; 
suggested  for  the  presidency,  412  ; 
Lee    seeks    interview   with,    450  ; 
conference  with  Lincoln  and  Sher- 
man, 451  ;    envelops   Lee's   army, 
453- 

Greeley,  Horace,  Lincoln's  letter  to, 
323  ;  favors  a  foreign  arbitration, 
371  ;  opposes  Lincoln,  412  ;  at  Ni- 
agara Conference,  416 

H 

Hale,  John  P.,   comments  on  Trent 

affair,  308 

Half-faced  camp,  12 
Halleck,    H.  W.,   at  Corinth,   Miss., 

340  ;    called   to   Washington,  358  ; 
his  warning  to  Meade,  388 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  nominated  Vice- 
President,  210 

Hampton  Roads  Conference,  425 

Hanks,  Dennis,  21 

Hanks,  Nancy,  6 

Hanks,  Thomas,  49 ;  helping  Lin- 
coln, 50  ;  brings  rails  into  conven- 
tion, 196 

Hardin,  J.  J.,  elected  to  Congress,  no 

Harper's  Ferry,  seized  by  rebels,  289  ; 
again  in  hands  of  rebels,  362 

Harrison,  Wm.  Henry,  nominated 
for  President,  97  ;  elected,  105 

Hatteras,  Fort,  capture  of,  301 

Hay,  Col.  John,  at  Niagara  Falls 
Conference,  417 

Hazel,  Caleb,  Lincoln's  schoolmaster, 
7,  10 

Henry,  Fort,  capture  of,  339 

Herndon,  Wi  H.,  Lincoln's  partner, 
93  ;  report  of  conversation  with 
Lincoln,  143 

Holt,  Joseph,  Secretary  of  War,  227 

Hood,  rebel  general,  409 

Hooker,  Joseph,  criticises  Burnside, 
371  ;  letter  from  Lincoln  to,  372  ; 
at  Chancellorsville,  374  ;  succeeded 
by  Meade,  384  ;  in  the  West,  399 

Hunter,  David,  his  emancipation 
Proclamation,  316  ;  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Shenandoah,  410 


4/2 


INDEX. 


Inauguration  of  Lincoln,  1861,  250  ; 
1865,  429 

Independence  Hall,  Lincoln  at  flag- 
raising,  245 

Indiana,  early  times  in,  9  ;  admitted 
to  the  Federal  Union,  12  ;  condi- 
tion of,  after  war  of  1812,  15 


Jackson,  "  Stonewall,"  in  the  Shen- 
andoah  Valley,  368 

Johnson,  John,  Lincoln's  foster- 
brother,  53  ;  Lincoln's  letter  to, 

131 

Johnson,  Andrew,  nominated  for 
Vice-President,  413  ;  succeeds  Lin- 
coln, 464 

Johnston,  A.  S.,  rebel  general  in 
Tennessee,  339  ;  killed  at  Shiloh, 
340 

K 

Kansas,  migration  to,  147  ;  great  ex- 
citement in,  156  ;  John  Brown  in, 
159  ;  election  methods  in,  159 ; 

fovernors  appointed  to,  160  ;  Free- 
tate  capital,  161  ;  Lecompton,  161 ; 
Lincoln's  visit  to,  197 
Kentucky,  part  of  Virginia,  3  ;  reply 
to  call  for  troops,  279  ;    provisional 
rebel  government  of,  368 


Lane,  Jas.  H.,  in  Kansas,  158 
Lecompton,    pro-slavery     capital    of 
Kansas,    161  ;    or  anti-Lecompton, 

173 

Lecture,  Lincoln's,  106 

Lee,  rebel  general,  in  Maryland,  325  ; 
seeks  an  interview  with  Grant,  450  ; 
his  surrender,  454 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  born,  6  ;  boy- 
hood, 14  ;  early  labors,  18  ;  his  first 
letter,  22  ;  motherless,  25  ;  his  first 
book,  25  ;  his  Weems'  "  Life  of 
Washington,"  27  ;  habit  of  reading 
aloud,  28  ;  his  stepmother,  29,  30, 
32  ;  reads  Cooper's  novels,  32  ; 
Burns'  poems,  34  ;  love  of  reading, 


Lincoln —  Continued. 

34  ;  a  wrestler,  35  ;  eulogy  of  Henry 
Clay,  36  ;  mathematical  studies,  36  ; 
saves  life  of  a  neighbor,  37  ;  at- 
tends court  at  Boonville,  37  ;  prac- 
tises speech-making,  38  ;  examples 
in  arithmetic,  40  ;  builds  a  flat- 
boat,  40  ;  first  earnings,  42  ;  sec- 
ond voyage  down  the  Mississippi, 
44  ;  his  bargain  with  Gentry,  44  ; 
adventure  with  midnight  maraud- 
ers, 45  ;  first  view  of  slavery,  46  ; 
stalwart  young  pioneer,  47  ;  love 
of  story-telling,  47  ;  settlement  of 
Lincolns  in  Illinois,  50  ;  strikes  out 
for  himself,  52  ;  disaster  at  New 
Salem,  53  ;  his  invention,  53  ;  sec- 
ond visit  to  the  land  of  slavery,  54  ; 
the  Voudoo  seeress,  54  ;  settles  in 
New  Salem,  56  ;  encounter  with 
Jack  Armstrong,  58;  as  a  peace- 
maker, 61  ;  his  newspaper  reading, 
62  ;  studies  grammar,  62  ;  "his  first 
law  books,  64  ;  candidate  for  Legis- 
lature, 65  ;  in  the  Black  Hawk 
war,  65-70  ;  defeated  for  Legisla- 
ture, 71  ;  personal  appearance  as 
young  man,  73  ;  buys  a  half  inter- 
est in  a  country  store,  74  ;  his  stud- 
ies, 76  ;  appointed  postmaster,  "8  ; 
settlement  of  an  old  account,  79  ; 
elected  to  Legislature,  81  ;  re- 
elected,  83  ;  tilt  with  Geo.  For- 
quer,  84  ;  his  political  platform. 
84  ;  encounter  with  Col.  Richard 
Taylor,  85  ;  the  Lincoln-Stone  pro- 
test, 87  ;  removes  to  Springfield, 
89  ;  friendship  with  Speed,  90  ; 
travels  the  circuit,  92  ;  partnership 
with  Stuart,  93  ;  with  S.  T.  Lc- 
gan,  93  ;  with  \V.  H.  Herndon,  93  ; 
writes  a  lecture,  95  ;  love  for  Ann 
Rutledge,  99  ;  matrimonial  en- 
gagement with  Miss  Mary  Todd. 
101  ;  the  Shields-Lincoln  "  duel," 
101  ;  advice  to  a  young  officer, 
104  ;  marriage,  104 ;  lecture  on 
drinking  usages,  106-8  ;  meets 
Martin  Van  Buren,  108  ;  visits 
Henry  Clay,  112  ;  nominated  to 
Congress,  113;  elected,  115;  reso- 
lutions on  the  Mexican  war,  116  ; 
Alexander  H.  Stephens'  opinion  of 


INDEX. 


473 


Lincoln — Continued. 

him,  117  ;  Lincoln  on  Cass,  118  ; 
on  Polk,  119  ;  goes  to  New  Eng- 
land, 122  ;  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  125  ;  can- 
didate for  Land  Commissioner,  126  ; 
offered  governorship  of  Oregon, 
127  ;  letter  to  his  step-brother,  131  ; 
value  of  his  Springfield  property, 
132  ;  the  "  Snow  boys' "  case.  134  ; 
case  of  Nancy,  the  negro  girl,  136  ; 
the  negro  boy  seized  in  New  Or- 
leans, 137  ;  his  oratorical  manner, 
142  ;  his  despondency,  143  ;  elec- 
tor on  Whig  ticket,  144  ;  speaks  in 
Springfield,  149  ;  with  Douglas  in 
Peoria,  152  ;  candidate  for  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  154  ;  letter  to  Speed, 
161  ;  his  views  on  colonization, 

163  ;  leader  of  the  Free-Soil  party, 

164  ;    speech    in    the    Republican 
Convention,     Bloomington,      167  ; 
nominated  for  Senator,   175  ;   Lin- 
coln-Douglas   campaign    arranged, 
176  ;    his   autobiography,    178-80  ; 
facetious   speech   on    his    political 
prospects,  182  ;  speech  at  Charles- 
ton, 111.,  186  ;  views  on  naturalized 
foreigners,    195  ;    first   named    for 
presidency,  196  ;  visits  Kansas,  97  ; 
speech    at    Cooper    Union,     198  ; 
nominated  for  President  at  Chicago, 
209  ;     accepts     nomination,     211  ; 
elected  President,  214  ;  curious  op- 
tical illusion,  215  ;  cabinet-making, 
218  ;  his  policy,    221  ;    his  humor, 
221  ;  his  religious  views,  222  ;  pre- 
diction of  day  of  wrath,  224  ;  de- 
parture     for     Washington,     233  ; 
threats  against  his  life,  233  ;  jour- 
ney to   Washington,    234-248  ;  in- 
auguration, 250  ;  names  his  Cabinet, 
260  ;     besieged    by    office-seekers, 
265  ;  refuses  to  receive  rebel  emis- 
saries,   266  ;    sends   a   message   to 
Charleston,     267  ;     first     call     for 
troops,   277  ;  his   dark   days,  282  ; 
declares  a  blockade,  286 ;  reply  to 
Virginia  delegates,  287  ;  depressed 
by  Bull  Run  defeat,  300  ;  message 
to    Congress   July,   1861,  302  ;   his 
demand  for  men  and  money,  304  ; 
overrules    Fremont    and     Hunter, 


Lincoln —  Continued. 

318  ;  special  message  to  Congress, 
March,  1862,  and  border-State  con- 
ference, 320  ;  letter  to  Horace 
Greeley,  323  ;  considers  the  issuing 
of  an  emancipation  proclamation, 
325  ;  proclamation  issued,  325  ; 

Elan  of  military  operations,  337  ; 
irewell  to  Gen.  Scott,  338  ;  let- 
ter to  McClellan,  345  ;  reads 
military  strategy,  343  ;  death  of 
his  son  Willie,  347  ;  letter  of  re- 
monstrance to  McClellan,  349  ; 
sends  Franklin's  division  to  Mc- 
Clellan, 350  ;  causes  of  disagree- 
ment with  McClellan,  351  ;  his  cap- 
ture of  Norfolk,  353  ;  receives  Mc- 
Clellan's  Harrison  Landing  letter, 
369  ;  visits  McClellan,  356  ;  im- 
portuned to  reinstate  McClellan, 
369  ;  correspondence  with  Fernando 
Wood,  370  ;  "  pegging  away,  "372  ; 
letter  to  Hooker,  372  ;  visits  Hook- 
er's head-quarters,  373  ;  after  the 
battle  of  Chancellorsville,  375  ; 
deals  with  Vallandigham,  380,  381  ; 
letter  to  Grant,  383  ;  announces 
victories  of  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
388  ;  speech  at  serenade,  389  ; 
proclamation  of  Thanksgiving,  390; 
letter  to  Springfield  war  meeting, 
393  ;  address  at  Gettysburg  battle- 
ground, 395  ;  letter  about  Sabbath- 
breaking  in  the  army,  398  ;  joke  as 
to  Burnside's  being  lost,  399  ; 
"  swap  horses  while  crossing  a 
stream,"  402  ;  address  to  Grant, 
405  ;  on  Hood's  defeat,  409  ;  his 
renomination  opposed,  411  ;  on 
Grant's  possible  nomination,  412  ; 
his  second  nomination,  412  ;  letter 
accepting  nomination,  413;  Niagara 
Falls  Conference,  416  ;  issues  call 
for  500,000  men,  420  ;  his  despatch 
announcing  his  election,  421  ; 
Hampton  Roads  Conference,  425  ; 
reply  to  two  rebel  ladies,  429  ;  sec- 
ond inauguration,  429  ;  family  life 
in  the  White  House,  433  et  seq.  ; 
his  relations  to  E.  D.  Baker,  433  ; 
his  love  of  music,  435  ;  his  sons, 
436  ;  his  habits  in  Washington, 
441  ;  appoints  S.  P.  Chase  Chief- 


474 


INDEX. 


Lincoln — Continued. 
Justice,  444  ;  details  of  office  work, 
447  ;  conference  with  Grant  and 
Sherman,  451  ;  at  City  Point,  and 
visits  Richmond,  452  ;  serenaded 
on  his  return,  457  ;  his  last  speech, 
460  ;  his  assassination  and  death, 
461-3  ;  his  funeral,  464-66 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  grandfather  of  the 
President,  3 

Lincoln,  Mary  and  Nancy,  children 
of  the  elder  Abraham,  4 

Lincoln,  Mordecai  and  Josiah,  3  ; 
Mordecai  kills  an  Indian,  4 

Lincoln,  Thomas,  father  of  the  Presi- 
dent, his  escape  from  an  Indian,  4  ; 
a  laboring  man,  5  ;  marriage,  6  ; 
migrates  to  Indiana,  9,  10,  II  ; 
builds  a  cabin,  16  ;  his  second  mar- 
riage, 29  ;  death  of,  143 

Lincoln,  sons  of  the  President,  436 

Lincoln,  the  original  family,  2 

"  Loco-Foco,"  origin  of,  105 

Logan,  S.  T.,  associated  with  Lin- 
coln, 93 

Log   cabin,  building,   17  ;  campaign, 

97 

"  Long  Nine,  '  the,  87 
"  Lost  Townships,"  letters  from,  101 
Louisville,   Ky.,  menaced  by  rebels, 

369 


II 


McClellan,  George  B.,  his  early  fame, 
297  ;  in  West  Virginia,  301  ;  views 
on  slavery,  311,  318  ;  inactive  near 
Washington,  322  ;  zenith  of  his 
fame,  335  ;  demurs  to  plan  of  op- 
erations, 345  ;  letter  from  Lincoln 
as  to  plans,  345  ;  choice  of  Demo- 
cratic politicians,  342  ;  peninsular 
campaign,  348  et  seq ;  receives 
Franklin's  division,  350  ;  asks  per- 
mission to  give  political  views  to 
Lincoln,  351  ;  bitter  letter  to  Secre- 
tary of  War,  354  ;  his  views  on  the 
general  situation,  355  ;  fails  to  sup- 
port Pope,  360  ;  at  the  head  of  re- 
organized army,  361  ;  relieved  of 
his  command,  364  ;  nominated  for 
President,  414 

McDowell,  Irvin,  at  Bull  Run,  298 


Manassas,  abandoned  by  the  rebels, 
346  ;  its  "  Quaker  guns,"  346 

Marcy,  W.  L.,  Secretary  of  State,  219 

Martial  law  proclaimed,  376 

Maryland,  response  to  call  for  troops, 
279 ;  vote  for  President  in  1860, 
284  ;  Seward's  rebuke  of,  284  ;  in- 
vaded by  Lee,  325  ;  abolishes  sla- 
very, 419 

Mason  and  Slidell,  seizure  of,  etc., 
306-9 

Massachusetts,  Sixth  Regiment  fired 
on  in  Baltimore,  282 

Meade,  G.  G.,  succeeds  Hooker,  384  ; 
at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  383  ; 
warned  by  Halleck,  388 

Mexican  war,  Lincoln's  opposition  to, 
116 

Migration,  Western,  in  1783,  2 

"  Milk  sick,"  The,  20 

Missouri,  reply  to  call  for  troops,  279; 
Fremont  in,  312  ;  disorders  in,  312 

Missouri  Compromise,  repeal  of,  145 

Monitor  and  Merrimac,  fight  of,  347 

Morgan,  E.  D.,  Governor  of  New 
York,  280 


N 


Nancy,  negro  girl,  Lincoln  tries  case 

of,  136 
Naturalized      foreigners,      Lincoln's 

views   concerning,    195 
Navy    yard    at    Norfolk    seized     by 

rebels,    289 

Negro  troops  enlisted,  377 
New  Orleans,  Lincoln's  visit  to,  54  ; 

slave    case    in,    137  ;    capture    of, 

341 

New  Salem,  111.,  Lincoln's  disaster 
at,  53  ;  he  takes  up  his  residence 
in,  56  ;  is  postmaster  of,  78 

Newspapers,  suppressed  by  slave- 
holders, 121 

Niagara  Falls  Conference,  416 

Nolin  Creek,  the  Lincoln  residence 
near,  6 

North  Carolina,  reply  to  call  for 
troops,  279 

O 

Optical  illusion,  Lincoln's  story  of, 
215 


INDEX. 


475 


Ordinance  of  secession  adopted,  228 
Oregon,  Lincoln  offered  governorship 
of,  127 

P 

Patterson,  Gen.,  at  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  298 

Peace  Congress  in  Washington,  231  ; 
Democrats,  369 

Pea  Ridge,  battle  of,  340 

Pendleton,  Geo.  H.,  nominated  for 
Vice-President,  415 

Peninsula  campaign,  348  el  seq. 

Peoria,  111.,  Lincoln  and  Douglas  in, 
152 

Pickens,  Fort,  relieved,  273 

Pierpont,  Governor  of  West  Virginia, 
301 

Polk,  Jas.  K.,  elected  President,  in; 
Lincoln  criticises,  119 

Pope,  Gen.  John,  on  the  Mississippi, 
340  ;  called  to  the  East,  358  ;  takes 
a  new  command,  358  ;  Army  of  the 
Potomac  to  support  him,  359;  driven 
back  upon  Washington,  360 

Porter,  Fitz-John,  his  failure  to  sup- 
port Pope,  360 

Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  capture 
of,  301 

Preaching,  backwoods,  8 

Pryor,  Roger  A.,  rebel  leader,  268 

Public  debt,  1783,  2 


Rails  and  rail-splitting,  212 

Rebel,  leaders  disconcerted  by  Lin- 
coln, 255  ;  Congress  at  Montgom- 
ery, 266  ;  emissaries  in  Washing- 
ton, 266 

Republican  party,  birth  of,  166  ;  con- 
vention of,  1860,  209  ;  1864,  412 

Richmond,  capital  of  Confederacy, 
288  ;  capture  of,  452 

Riney,  Zachariah,  Lincoln's  school- 
master, 7 

Roanoke  Island,  capture  of,  340 

Robinson,  Chas.,  early  Governor  of 
Kansas,  159 

Rosecrans,  W.  S. ,  at  battle  of  Stone 
River,  369 

Russell,  Lord  John,  derides  emanci- 
pation proclamation,  328 


Rutledge,  Ann,  Lincoln's  early  love, 

99 

S 

Scott,  Dred,  decision  in  case  of,  180 
Scott,    Winfield,    warns    Lincoln    at 
Harrisburg,  244 ;  at  Lincoln's   in- 
auguration, 259 ;  a  veteran  of  the 
Mexican  war,  336  ;  retired,  337 
Secession  of  seven  States,  228 
Settlers,  early,  in  Indiana,  17 
Seward,  W.   H.,  supports  Gen.  Tay- 
lor's   candidacy,     122  ;     candidate 
before    the    Chicago     Convention, 
1860,    207;    as    "Premier,"    264; 
rebuke     to     Maryland,     284  ;      at 
Hampton  Roads  Conference,  424  ; 
assault  on,  463 

Sheridan,  Philip,  in  Shenandoah  Val- 
ley, 411  ;  encircles  rebel  army  at 
Appomattox,  451  ;  captures  Lee's 
supplies,  452 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  at  Vicksburg,  369  ; 
under  Grant,  399  ;  succeeds  Grant 
in  command  of  Division  of  the 
Mississippi,  406  ;  invests  Atlanta, 
408  ;  march  to  the  sea,  428  ;  con- 
ference with  Lincoln  and  Grant, 

451 

Shields,  James,  "  duel  "  with  Lincoln, 
101  ;  Senator  from  Illinois,  153 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  340 

Ship  Island,  341 

Slavery,  early  extension  of,  16  ;  Lin- 
coln's first  view  of,  46 ;  bill  to 
abolish,  in  District  of  Columbia, 
125  ;  death  knell  of,  146  ;  abolished 
in  Maryland,  419 

Snow  boys,  Lincoln  tries  suit  against, 

134 

South  Mountain,  battle  of,  325 
Sparrow,  Mrs.  Betsey,  21 
Speed,  Joshua,  Lincoln's  friend,  229; 

Lincoln's  letter  to,  161 
Spencer  County,  Ind.,  the  Lincolnsin, 

10 

"  Spot"  Lincoln,  116 
Sprague,  Wm.,  Governor   of    Rhode 

Island,  280 
Springfield,  111.,  Lincoln  removes  to, 

89  ;    first    great   speech    in,    148  ; 

Lincoln    in,    229  ;    his     departure 

from,  233 


INDEX. 


Stanton,  E.  M.,  Attorney-General  in 
Buchanan's  Cabinet,  227  ;  Secre- 
tary of  War  under  Lincoln,  263  ; 
anecdote  of,  446 

Steamboat,  first,  on  Lake  Erie,  16 

Stephens,  Alex.  H.,  Vice-President  of 
Confederacy,  229  ;  endeavors  to  dis- 
suade secession,  230 ;  at  Hampton 
Roads  Conference,  423  ;  his  report 
of,  427 

Stone  and  Lincoln,  protest  against 
slavery,  87 

Stone,  Chas.  P.,  in  command  at 
Washington,  285 

Stone  River,  battle  of,  369 

Stuart,  John  T.,  Lincoln's  partner,  93 

Stuart,  J.  E.  B.,  rebel  general,  raids 
Chambersburg,  Pa.,  363 

"Sugar-coated,"  Lincoln's  use  of 
phrase,  304 

Sumter,  Fort,  surrender  of,  274 

Superstitions  of  frontier  settlers,  19 

Surveyor,  Lincoln  as,  76 


Taney,    R.   B.,   Chief-Justice,     Dred 

Scott     case,     180  ;     succeeded    by 

S.  P.  Chase,  444 
Taylor,    Richard,    on   the   stump    in 

Illinois,  85 
Taylor,    Zachary,    in    Black    Hawk 

war,  67  ;  nominated  for  President, 

119  ;  is  elected,  123 
Tennessee,  reply  to  call   for  troops, 

279 

Texas  admitted  to  the  Union,  113 
Thanksgiving    for    Union    victories, 

390 

Thomas,  Geo.  H.,  defeats  Gens.  Zol- 
likorler  and  Crittenden,  339 ;  in 
command  of  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, 339  ;  at  Nashville,  409 

Thompson,  Jacob,  Secretary  of  In- 
terior in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  227 

Todd,  Mary,  letters  from  "  Lost 
Townships,"  100 ;  marries  Lin- 
coln, 104 

Topeka,  Kan.,  free-State  capital,  161 


Toucey,  Isaac,  Secretary  of  Navy  in 
Buchanan's  Cabinet,  225 

Treason  in  Washington,  251 

Trent  affair,  The,  306-9 

Trumbull,  Lyman,  on  Illinois  cir- 
cuit, 93  ;  candidate  for  Senate,  154 

Tyler,  John,  Vice-President  and 
President,  121 


Vallandigham,  C.  L.,  opposes  the 
war,  369  ;  expelled  from  the  North, 
380  ;  nominated  for  Governor  of 
Ohio,  380  ;  his  return  to  the  North, 
33i 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  nominated  for 
President,  97  ;  meets  Lincoln,  108 

Vicksburg,  assaulted  by  Sherman, 
369  ;  fall  of,  381 

Virginia,  reply  to  call  for  troops, 
279  ;  convention  of  1861,  286  ; 
secession  of,  288 

Vote,  electoral,  1856,  172 ;  1860, 
214  ;  1864,  420 

Voudoo  seeress,  54 

W 

Washington,  treason   in,    251  ;    news 

of  Lee's  surrender  in,  456 
Weems,   his  "  Life  of  Washington," 

26  ;    Lincoln's   reference    to   book, 

242 

Weitzel,  Godfrey,  in  Richmond   452 
Western  immigration  in  1783,  2 
West  Virginia  organized,  301 
Whiskey  as  currency,  9 
Wide-awakes  organized,  212 
Wilderness,  battle  of  the,  407 
Wilkes,  Capt.,  and  the  Trent  affair, 

306 

Winter  of  deep  snow,  Illinois,  51 
Wines  sent    to    Lincoln    on   nomina- 
tion, 211 
Wood,  F.,  favors  making  New  York 

a  free  city,  340  ;  his  correspondence 

with  Lincoln,  370 
Wrestler,  Lincoln  as,  35 


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